Most of my work is installation based and often crafted for the specific space I will be exhibiting. My installation at the 12 Inches of Sin festival was a unique challenge within the New Orleans Square retail complex at the historic Commercial Center. Each room has its own problem solving but that becomes part of the fun. Being given a room to explore and create in was very exciting to me. It was also a way for me to experiment with a work in progress. I could physically manifest ideas that had just existed in my mind. 12 Inches gave me the freedom and space to try anything. Of course, the theme is erotic and most of my work is not so I chose Flesh Diamonds because I believe it fit in with some of the ideas in the festival. I hoped people would come away from my exhibit questioning the myth and materiality of celebrity, and the cyclical nature of time and culture.
Modern fame often appropriates previous icons. In history, famous figures often were based off myths and had creation stories, i.e. Aphrodite. Modern celebrities also have personal myths with their own creation stories about their rise to stardom. They become a glamorous icon worshipped by the masses. Celebrities are an amalgam of the past and reflection of the present. They continue to move and speak after death. Flesh Diamonds takes one of the most replicated scenes in film history and shows its repetition throughout time, each star projecting their own identity. They have been manipulated with algorithms based off the movement each icon contributed to their version of Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend bringing out the materiality and motion of the celebrities’ filmed persona.
Photograph by JK Russ
