I create artwork to express my fascination with natural, human behavior and to simulate solutions through drawing, sculpture, video, performance and installation. The main purpose of my work is to design contraptions that will alter one’s behavior. These braces will be used to twist and reposition the body, putting one in a posture, condition or interaction that may become thought provoking and self-reflective.

When I begin to create a contraption I decide what undesirable behavior to focus on. I get my ideas from stories in the news, negative interactions I see in public, or from experiences in my own life. I am affected by how negatively people can treat each other. From seeing a mother yell in the face of her 2 year old child to shut up, to watching stories of extreme rape and murder on the 6 O’clock news, I try to figure out a contraption design that may help these people change their behavior. For example, I may choose to empower the powerless (Deadbeat Driver gives a child control of a parent who is a neglectful.), or humiliate one who acts more important than others (Humbler makes one crawl on knees among others he/she feels superior to.)

Rubber and metal are the meat and bones of my sculpture. Mold making with rubber gives me the freedom and flexibility to create any shape needed. I use metal because of it’s strength and durability. It becomes the main structure designed to support the mechanics of each piece. Adding recognizable parts (wheels, hoses, fixtures, faucets) helps the viewer to visually connect with the sculpture.

When I first began making behavioral contraptions the look was very raw. The metal was left untreated and I displayed them on naked human figures. I used the devices for a performance piece conducted like a medieval courtroom; a demented judge damning a person to wear a contraption forever because of their poor behavior. Needless to say I scared the hell out of my parents. I then moved to a more commercial approach for these behavioral contraptions. I designed perfect, polished, painted and decaled pieces…ready to be manufactured and sold next to the exercising machines at Sears. Infomercials were produced and directed for each piece to explain what negative behavior the contraption was for and how it worked. These were based on the idea of big corporate promises and disappointing delivery.

My current work (Compassion) is recreating a behavioral science lab installation. The room includes a two-way mirror that looks into the experimentation room containing the contraptions, three surveillance monitors showing video of the experiment, drawings of future contraptions and lab coats to wear inside the lab. My idea was to make the viewer feel as if they are part of the piece; to be an observer of something odd that happened right before they got there. The sculpture inside the room was designed for 2 people who don’t get along. It is a black structure of metal, pulleys, and cables that hold each person’s head over a water basin. Only the tips of their noses touch the water. By the design of the device, if one person pulls their head away the other will get their head pushed into the water. They must learn to have compassion for one another and work together to end the suffering.

Although my ideas for forcibly changing ones negative behavior is futile, I am hoping that one who sees my work will find minute connections for self-improvement. I would like the viewer to wonder that maybe only under extreme conditions do we see the light. Through pain and suffering may we learn the most difficult lessons.