Flags to Fold In the Pocket, (2021-present)
Inspired by a Claes Oldenburg drawing from 1960 which is essentially a wrinkled piece of butcher paper covered in black crayon marks that vaguely look like stripes. He made this drawing while working at a restaurant in Provincetown.
Long drawn to ideas of portability and emblems of personal, available power, my homages to Oldenburg's work are handprinted on Shikishi paper which, prior to printing are dyed and rigorously manipulated. This surprisingly strong paper becomes cloth-like through multiple passes of wetting, twisting, and folding. Positive phrases, often derived from song lyrics combined with symbolic images of growth, love, and protection are printed on the flags in heraldic compositions. These flags are folded amulets that can be privately carried or proudly brandished depending on circumstance or situation.
