Rat #6

Rat #1

Rat #11

Rat #5

Rat #4

Rats #16

Rats #13

Rat #9

Rats #12

Rat #8

Rats #14

Rat #2

Rats #15

Rats # 10

Studio Invasion Drawing

Voodoo Rat Doll

Studio Invasion Painting Specs:

The following paintings are all on oil on unprimed canvas.                                                                              

Rat #6, 2 1/2” x 11 1/4”                Rats #13, 12” x 20”                        Rat #2, 3 1/2” x 17 1/2”

Rat #11, 3 1/2” x 18”                    Rat #9, 8” x 10”                              Rats #14, 15” x 57 1/4”

Rat #1, 3 1/2” x 16”                      Rats #16, 16 1/2” x 41”                  Rats #15, 10” x 11”

Rat #5, 2 1/2” x 11 1/2”                Rats #12, 9” x 48”                          Rats #10, 30” x 40”

Rat #4, 7 1/4” x 11 1/4”                Rat #8, 3 1/2” x 14 1/2”                  Studio Invasion 8 1/2” x 11”                

                                                                                                            Marker on paper, (1998)

Voodoo Rat Doll, 1997, Raw silk, wire, lining and rat skull, 12 1/2” x 7” x 10”

  After I finished college, I stared getting into more art shows and desperately needed a studio.  As luck would have it, I secured a studio for myself with a reasonable rent in walking distance of my apartment.  Here my subconscious could grow wild.  The Rats although very real in that they were frequenters in my studio, (My studio neighbored a restaurant on the first floor) now started visiting me in my sleep.  My studio became a place to invade and destroy.  The destruction was not only objects, but also my privacy in my sacred space.  I became paranoid during my waking hours in my studio.  I could feel them watching me.  I knew that they had been there because of their droppings left behind to remind me that this space really was not mine.  I was their day border.  I became obsessed with them.  I started painting them as a way to wage war.  Here I could kill as many as I wanted and did not even have to set traps.  This was my mojo.  It did not work.  Instead, I found droppings under my paintings.  It was as if they decided to admire their own portraits.  Therefore, I had to get snap traps.  I killed three rats in 7 months.

 The rats are a more direct link to my subconscious than my other works.  They are also more informal.  The canvas is unprimed and raw, many times being stretched over scraps of wood.  The finish is matte.  This was so that you may look at the animal's coat and know where it has been and what it has been eating.   The rats look as though they are busy, busy in mischief.  They persist regardless of what you may feel and how you may feel about them.  One can almost admire them and despise them simultaneously.  Nevertheless, personally, I am really glad I got the traps.