Artist Statement - November 2009

Who knows what would have happened to me, if Supergirl hadn’t come through my television set to give me super powers and a sex change. This dream of an improbable transformation haunted my childhood. Although I knew my imagination was powerful, the world was constantly reminding me to keep it to myself. I became very secretive about my thoughts and elaborate fantasy life. My communication skills suffered and fitting in proved difficult. It my Mom was the first to suggest Art as an alibi. I didn’t have to like sports because I was her ‘creative son’. I took to this idea and art became my primary form of communication.

For years I had been living in a parallel reality. Through out my mundane life I would think about my various super-powered alter-egos and what their world was like. This was the start of my performative practice. Using art to bridge the gap between my fictional world and repressive reality. I make costumes and props for my personas. They appear in many forms; performances, videos, comic, blogs and photography. The ephemeral objects left behind can also prove their existence. I want to articulate every part of their world, and I want to do it on the cheap.

Capitalism has played an important role in molding my brain to absorb non-stop visual stimuli. Movies, television and a world of endless ad campaigns have all done there job selling me lifestyle but I remain critical. I want glamour but without the budget; that is why I started dumpster diving. Incorporating garbaged goods has left me with a funky post-apocalyptic aesthetic. My videos definitely carry a D.I.Y. aesthetic, highlighting the awesome potential of homemade costumes and low-budget digital effects.

At the present I am still looking for my super powers but I am becoming more comfortable as a transgendered person. My inter-personal skills seem to have caught up to my age but I am glad for the critical insight early social rejection afforded me. I have been drawing more than regular and will be producing a few comic books. With in 10 years I will make a feature length movie, perhaps about a super girl and her gender bending sidekick.