Work samples
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Google Art Video (excerpt)Google Art Video depicts a series of strange encounters between an artist and a belligerent version of herself. As the women discuss art, a cryptic dialogue ensues about the dynamics of creativity and self-sabotage, an urge with which many women artists struggle. This piece marks a pivotal shift in my work - the point at which I summoned the courage to overcome my self-doubt and pursue my life long dream of performing stand-up comedy.
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Starbux Diary at The Stoop Storytelling Series (excerpt)Starbux Diary was an endurance art project in which I wrote down my thoughts about life, love and art on a Starbucks customer comment card each day from 2005-2015. In this audio clip, I tell the story of the how the project began at The Stoop Storytelling series in 2009, about midway through the piece. The story was also broadcast in-full on WYPR's The Signal and has since become a pledge drive favorite.
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Stand-up Comedy (excerpt)In this stand-up set, I use techniques from my performance art work, such as talking on a banana, while simultaneously calling attention to this long-standing cliche.
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Cats, Criminals & Comedians TrailerCats, Criminals and Comedians trailer for 2019 show and tour!
About Christine
Baltimore City
Christine Ferrera is a Baltimore-based writer, performer and comedian. She began her artistic career as a visual artist. However, after completing several series of paintings and prints, she discovered a tendency toward narrative in her work and made the leap to time-based media. Inspired by the experimental monologues of Laurie Anderson and the surrealist humor of Andy Kaufman, Ferrera's current work explores the intersection of performance art and comedy. Whether in the form of video, stand-… more
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Stand-up Comedy
Always looking to surprise and challenge myself, I thrive on doing stand-up comedy that verges on performance art. My style has been described (by me) as, "self-deprecating Third-wave Feminism." I sometimes perform in-character as Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic - a very confessional comedian who delivers jokes with pre-recorded punchlines - or as the even more tragic Carrot Bottom: A Prop Comic - a comedy routine in which I employ various props, such as a banana, a fart machine and more.
In 2017, I was a featured performer with (Adult Swim's) Wham City Comedy on their USA tour, performing as America Lady - a hopelessly out of touch middle-aged woman attempting to do edgy political humor. I have had the honor to open for national headliners, such as Rhea Butcher, Gary Gulman and Michael Ian Black, as well as appear at comedy festivals across the country. I am a co-organizer of the Freeze Peach Comedy Series, which features women, poc, lgbtq and other under-represented comics and performers. I am currently in production on a half-hour comedy special for release in 2019.
America Lady, 2017 photo by Alex Ell
Portrait, 2018 by Alex Fine
Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic, 2013 photo & video by Roberto Herrera
Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic, 2012 video by Guy Werner
In 2017, I was a featured performer with (Adult Swim's) Wham City Comedy on their USA tour, performing as America Lady - a hopelessly out of touch middle-aged woman attempting to do edgy political humor. I have had the honor to open for national headliners, such as Rhea Butcher, Gary Gulman and Michael Ian Black, as well as appear at comedy festivals across the country. I am a co-organizer of the Freeze Peach Comedy Series, which features women, poc, lgbtq and other under-represented comics and performers. I am currently in production on a half-hour comedy special for release in 2019.
America Lady, 2017 photo by Alex Ell
Portrait, 2018 by Alex Fine
Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic, 2013 photo & video by Roberto Herrera
Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic, 2012 video by Guy Werner
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HubrisA compilation of comedy headshots
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Christine Ferrera at Everything Will Be Okay, 2017
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Ho Ho Ho! Holiday Spectacular 2018I take to the streets to give Santa the gift of laughter.
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Christine Ferrera Stand-up
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Christine Ferrera at the Black Cat, 2018
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America Lady at What A Joke! ACLU Fundraiser, 2017What A Joke! was a nationwide comedy festival in response to the inauguration of Donald Trump in which all proceeds went to the ACLU.
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Christine Ferrera at the Maryland Film Festival, 2016In this stand-up set, I use techniques from my performance art work such as talking on a banana while simultaneously calling attention to this long-standing cliche.
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Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic, 2013Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic is a bizarre comedy routine in which I confront my deepest fears by telling jokes with pre-recorded punchlines. The uncomfortable silence between the jokes draws attention to the pathos of the comic.
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Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic, 2012Awkward Pauzez the Digital Comic made her awkward debut at the Videopolis Festival at Metro Gallery in 2012. The comic and her video doppelgänger perform jokes with pre-recorded punchlines and it is uncomfortably giggly.
Cats, Criminals & Comedians: The Untold Herstory of Feminist Performance Art
Cats, Criminals & Comedians: The Untold Herstory of Feminist Performance Art is a PowerPoint lecture that tells an apocryphal "herstory" of feminist performance art. As the story progresses, we see how systemic misogyny programs women to loathe and undermine themselves as well as antagonize each other, thereby reinforcing the power structure. Using real and invented historical figures, the piece satirizes the genre while highlighting the very real struggles of women in a patriarchal art world.
After two decades working in the male-dominated fields of art and comedy, I felt inspired to combine my passion for performance art, stand-up and storytelling to focus attention on the issue that has largely defined my life and career - my gender. During a political climate in which misogyny is promoted at the highest level, Cats, Criminals & Comedians is a densely layered and sly homage to the tenacious, innovative and radical spirit of women. Currently in monologue form, I am adapting Cats, Criminals & Comedians for a theatrical run and tour in 2019.
Cats, Criminals and Comedians was written and performed by Christine Ferrera with original music by Dan Hanrahan.
After two decades working in the male-dominated fields of art and comedy, I felt inspired to combine my passion for performance art, stand-up and storytelling to focus attention on the issue that has largely defined my life and career - my gender. During a political climate in which misogyny is promoted at the highest level, Cats, Criminals & Comedians is a densely layered and sly homage to the tenacious, innovative and radical spirit of women. Currently in monologue form, I am adapting Cats, Criminals & Comedians for a theatrical run and tour in 2019.
Cats, Criminals and Comedians was written and performed by Christine Ferrera with original music by Dan Hanrahan.
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Cats, Criminals & Comedians (excerpt)This voice-over style video is an excerpt of the lecture portion of Cats, Criminals & Comedians.
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Cats, Criminals & Comedians TrailerCats, Criminals and Comedians trailer for 2019 show and tour!
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Helene Cixous, French Philosopher & Poet"Feminism is a fart!"
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100 Reasons To Give Up On Everything Forever100 Reasons To Give Up On Everything Forever by Lierre Lax, 1969
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Fuck Capitalism!Oscar Mayer Wienermobile performance by Sam Frank, 1988
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Does This Jumbotron Make My Ass Look Big?Durational performance by FLÜNKE, 2002
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Be My Bitch!Womanifesto by BITCH Collective, 2005
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Gender Enlightened Neo-Tactical EmpowermentTiny actions by The Society for G.E.N.T.L.E. Interventions, 2007
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I Cry Myself To Sleep Each & Every NightCrying piece by the artist, culture-jammer and political saboteur known as "Ann Coulter," 2012
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Wolffe Kunzelmann"Cats, Criminals & Comedians brought feminist performance art history to life! As I was listening, I was able to mentally picture it. Also, there were pictures!!!" -Wolffe Kunzelmann, Art Critic/Sagittarius
Starbux Diary
Starbux Diary began in 2005 when I was a painter striving to make art by juggling several waitressing jobs. Along with student debt, I found that my art school education had left me with a passion to create but little clue as to how to sustain myself as an artist. I either had time to work in my studio or money enough to survive, but rarely both. This time/money conundrum left me feeling frustrated and powerless. One day, I was at a Starbucks store and noticed that their customer feedback cards read, "We'd love to hear your thoughts..." Taking their invitation literally, I conceived of an endurance art project in which each day I jot down my ideas about life, love and art on a comment card and mail the original to Starbucks' customer relations department. Sometimes, Starbucks writes back.
A selection of diary entries, drawings and actuarial tables, my self-published book, Starbux Diary: My 10-year Journey to Caffeinated Enlightenment, was included in City Paper’s Top Ten Baltimore Books of 2015 and described as “Hilariously personal.” A longer revision of the book is scheduled for publication in 2019 accompanied by a performance reading and book tour.
Starbux Diary: My 10-year Journey to Caffeinated Enlightenment, 2015 book layout & design by John Moran
Starbux Diary Performance, 2013 video by Roberto Herrera
A selection of diary entries, drawings and actuarial tables, my self-published book, Starbux Diary: My 10-year Journey to Caffeinated Enlightenment, was included in City Paper’s Top Ten Baltimore Books of 2015 and described as “Hilariously personal.” A longer revision of the book is scheduled for publication in 2019 accompanied by a performance reading and book tour.
Starbux Diary: My 10-year Journey to Caffeinated Enlightenment, 2015 book layout & design by John Moran
Starbux Diary Performance, 2013 video by Roberto Herrera
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Starbux Diary at The Stoop Storytelling SeriesI tell the story of my Starbux Diary project at The Stoop Storytelling series at Centerstage in 2009, about midway through the project. The story was also broadcast on WYPR's The Signal and has since become a pledge drive favorite.
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Starbux Diary (Excerpt)Starbux Diary is a performance based on the personal journal I kept for 10 years. In performance, I read a selection of my letters to Starbucks and performers read the responses I have received from Starbucks via video. Over the years, the Starbucks letters subtly shift in tone from formal to familiar and, at times, affectionate. Our distant and ongoing dialogue slowly reveals the humanity behind the corporate façade.
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Starbux Diary, 2019Starbux Diary book cover designed by Christine Ferrera for the new publication in 2019
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Starbux Diary Entry - Bike DrawingI don't really have a horn on my bike.
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Letter From Starbucks Coffee Customer Service Representative Ryan FransonThis is a polite but formal letter I got from Starbucks Coffee Customer Service Representative Ryan Franson.
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Starbux Diary Entry - Banana Video Drawing
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Starbux Diary Entry - Today's Forecast Drawing
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Starbux Diary Entry - New Day DrawingThis is the last comment card I sent to Starbucks Coffee in 2015.
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Starbucks Customer Service Representative PaulThis is an excerpt of a conversation I had with Paul at Starbucks Customer Service in response to the question, "Has anyone ever fallen in love at Starbucks."
Stellar Cellar
Stellar Cellar is a journey through a woman’s subconscious, an evocation of Dionysus and a radio talk show about wine. As the host samples each vintage, her memories are conjured – funnel cake and dippin’ dots on the boardwalk, monks in Macedonia, the loss of her virginity in the back of a Honda Civic. Call-in questions, a car salesman from beyond the grave, and a dystopian weather and traffic report move her further into the deep layers of her psyche until a fox and a bear appear, revealing the sorrows of the animals. Finally, the shade of Emily Dickinson guides the host into the outer reaches of the spirit-filled world.
Written by Christine Ferrera with monologues (Jim's Crazy / Jerry Karpeziak) contributed by Dan Hanrahan, Stellar Cellar is a devised theatre piece conceived for the stage by Temple Crocker. The piece has been performed in-progress at the Charm City Fringe Festival, 14 Karat Cabaret and VisArts. Now in its final form, Stellar Cellar is a strange, intimate and surprisingly funny exploration of memory and loss.
Stellar Cellar, 2014 video by Dustin Roddy
Stellar Cellar, 2014 photos by Bill Shewbridge
Written by Christine Ferrera with monologues (Jim's Crazy / Jerry Karpeziak) contributed by Dan Hanrahan, Stellar Cellar is a devised theatre piece conceived for the stage by Temple Crocker. The piece has been performed in-progress at the Charm City Fringe Festival, 14 Karat Cabaret and VisArts. Now in its final form, Stellar Cellar is a strange, intimate and surprisingly funny exploration of memory and loss.
Stellar Cellar, 2014 video by Dustin Roddy
Stellar Cellar, 2014 photos by Bill Shewbridge
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Stellar Cellar at the Charm City Fringe Festival, 2014Stellar Cellar was performed at Church and Company as part of the Charm City Fringe Festival in 2014. This production was written by Christine Ferrera and Dan Hanrahan with contributions by Greg Romero and performances by Christine Ferrera, Dan Hanrahan, Temple Crocker, Daniel Friedman and Sarah Lloyd.
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Saint Cloud ViognerThe Host (Christine Ferrera) describes Saint Cloud Viogner, one of the best kept secrets in the wine world.
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Jim's CrazyJim's Crazy (Dan Hanrahan) advertises his all-weekend, all blowout deluxe carpet showroom super sale while his wife (Temple Crocker) listens affectionately.
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Giovani MonaciThe Host (Christine Ferrera) describes Giovani Monaci, a fabulous new pinot grigio made by some wonderful monks in Macedonia.
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Buffalo and Fart FaceBuffalo and Fart Face (Dan Hanrahan & Temple Crocker) give a dystopian weather and traffic report.
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Dave Matthews MerlotAs the Host tastes the Dave Matthews merlot, she remembers losing her virginity in the back of a Honda Civic, which causes a woman to cry (Temple Crocker).
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Fox and BearA fox and bear appear (Sarah Lloyd & Daniel Friedman), revealing the sorrows of the animals.
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Fox and BearBear (Daniel Friedman) watches over Fox (Sarah Lloyd) as she sleeps.
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Jerry KarpeziakJerry Karpeziak (Dan Hanrahan), a car salesman from beyond the grave, tells his story of being suspended in the cosmos.
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Emily DickensonThe shade of Emily Dickenson guides the Host into the spirit-filled world.
Google Art Video
Google Art Video depicts a series of strange encounters between an artist and a belligerent version of herself. As the women discuss art, a cryptic dialogue ensues about the dynamics of creativity and self-sabotage, an urge with which many women artists struggle. This piece marks a pivotal shift in my work - the point at which I summoned the courage to overcome my self-doubt and pursue my life long dream of performing stand-up comedy.
Stephanie Ferrera, a brilliant Bowen Theorist and my mom, described the project as follows:
"With exquisite nuance in facial expression and voice, the artist captures the painful self-undermining emotional process inherent in creative work, and mirrors the more universal tension between longing and fear inherent in human relationships."
Google Art Video, 2013 photos & video by Roberto Herrera
Stephanie Ferrera, a brilliant Bowen Theorist and my mom, described the project as follows:
"With exquisite nuance in facial expression and voice, the artist captures the painful self-undermining emotional process inherent in creative work, and mirrors the more universal tension between longing and fear inherent in human relationships."
Google Art Video, 2013 photos & video by Roberto Herrera
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Google Art Video, 2013Google Art Video was performed at VisArts Art Center as part of Between You & Me, a solo show of video and performance.
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Between You and Me at Amsterdam Fringe Festival, 2014Google Art Video was presented at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival in 2014 as part of my solo show, Between You and Me.
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Between You and Me at VisArts Art Center, 2013Between You and Me is a solo show of video and performance, first presented at VisArts Gallery in 2013. Counter-posing live and recorded performance, this collection of work contemplates art, humor and feminism.
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Google RapePink describes her new video project about art, love, war, language, facade, technology, colonialism, dreams, gender, sustainability, indulgence and metaphor, among other things.
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Google CommunicationPink literally spells out her feelings about art to a polite but apathetic Green.
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Google MeaningWhen Pink asks Green what her art is about, Green does not take the bait.
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Google UnityPink and Green nearly experience a moment of unity and stillness, but not quite.
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Google EchoGreen tries to locate the precise moment when she gave up on her dreams.
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Google ZeitgeistGreen finally gives Pink some answers but it's uncertain if Pink is satisfied.
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Google Art Video, 2010Google Art Video depicts a series of strange encounters between an artist and a belligerent version of herself. As the conversation weaves between profundity and nonsense, the strange timing between the two gives the piece an aura of dissonance and dark humor, forming a kind of eerie echo chamber.
600 New Names for the Big Bang
What do a 1930's Chicago supper club, Edgar Allen Poe's bewildering treatise on the cosmos and a highly eccentric Kinko's customer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have in common? 600 New Names for the Big Bang attempts to answer this riddle using monologue, archival photos and song. My long-time collaborator, Dan Hanrahan, and I tell the story of how we met and fell in love through a collection of fantastical tales and surrealist ballads.
Written by Christine Ferrera & Dan Hanrahan.
Music by Dan Hanrahan
Music by Dan Hanrahan
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600 New Names for the Big BangWhile working at a Kinko's copy store in the 1990's, Dan discovers a meticulously hand-typed document containing 600 new names for the Big Bang Theory left by a mysterious customer. Along with songs, Frenchy, Star Sun & Alien - written and performed by Dan Hanrahan - this list provides the backdrop for Edgar Allen Poe's treatise on the cosmos.
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Man of GoldChristine tells the story of her grandfather's harrowing emigration from Sicily, marrying my grandmother and their beloved, Cave of the Winds, a legendary Chicago supper club that hosted touring vaudeville acts throughout the 1930's and 40's.
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Cave of the Winds Supper Club, 1934 - 1952Cave of the Winds interior decorated with stalactites and stalagmites.
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My Sicilian Grandparents, Sam & Angie (right) with hostesses
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Cave of the Winds - Baby New Year 1945One of the hundreds of archival photos from the Cave of the Winds supper club run by my Sicilian grandparents on Chicago's Northside from 1934 - 1952.
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Cave of the Winds exterior
Making Art Not Money
Making Art Not Money was an endurance project in which I created something - a drawing, painting, photograph, video, performance, joke, poem, story, song, found object - each day for one year. In 2016, I quit working full-time for the first time in my life. As a meditation on labor and creativity, I made 365 pieces of art to celebrate the time I gained by not making money.
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Making Art Not Money - June 8, 2016Digital drawing
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Making Art Not Money - April 16, 2016Photo of a photo
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Making Art Not Money - April 9, 2016Drawing with collage
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Making Art Not Money - April 7, 2016Photo collage
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Making Art Not Money - August 7, 2016Digital drawing
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Making Art Not Money - May 9, 2016Drawing
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Making Art Not Money - July 8, 2016Haiku
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Making Art Not Money - August 16th, 2016Screenshot
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Making Art Not Money - August 17, 2016Cellphone photo
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Making Art Not Money - April 12, 2016Drawing
Corporate Romanticism: Products for Self-Empowerment
Corporate Romanticism imitates the devices of commercial media and personalizes it. A combination of painting, video and performance, this project was inspired by the feeling that marketers were trying to get in my head and create the illusion of a universal consciousness, as if to say, "I know you. These are your thoughts and your deepest desires."
Fluiditude, 2005 featuring Greg Darden
Freeway 3-Way Bra, 2005 featuring Theresa Columbus
Man Cigarettes, 2005 featuring Stephanie Barber
Fluiditude, 2005 featuring Greg Darden
Freeway 3-Way Bra, 2005 featuring Theresa Columbus
Man Cigarettes, 2005 featuring Stephanie Barber
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Less Sad/LonelyI made these when I was feeling sad one day.
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Fluiditude Aging Cream, 2005A man confronts his fear of aging.
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Freeway 3-Way Bra, 2005Finally, a bra that provides support, birth-control and a nicotine patch.
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Freeway 3-Way BraBra prop for "Freeway 3-Way bra."
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Man Cigarettes, 2005A woman learns to accept her compulsive side.
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Man CigarettesCigarette prop for "Man Cigarettes."
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Fantasi Pure Virgin Billboard SketchIn-progress sketch for a hand-painted/video billboard for "Fantasi Pure Virgin" cigarettes.
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Fantasi Pure VirginCigarette props for "Fantasi Pure Virgin."
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Love Technology Personal BillboardHand-painted/video billboard for a cellphone that provides true intimacy.
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Love Technology CellphonesCellphone props for "Love Technology."
Personal Ads
Personal Ads are collaged images and text from newspapers and magazines painted to evoke hand-made signs. Each surface is saturated with eye-popping color and campaign slogans are transmuted into short poems.
Gadi Dechter of Baltimore's City Paper described the work as follows:
"Ferrera paints in vivid, unnatural colors, superimposing artificial hues on her subjects (blond hair on dark-skinned women, for example) in the same way that consumer culture often imposes its beauty standards on its subordinates. That the slogans are written in broken English--familiar to anyone who has visited the non-English-speaking world--further emphasizes the misleading power of consumer advertising.
Ferrera also creates ironic tension by infusing sexual, racial, and political currents into these messages: In one work, a semi-reclining woman in a provocative red dress poses in front of a tube labeled 'feel real' with the slogan 'cock smart!' emblazoned underneath. In another piece, a grinning model proudly holds up a dispenser of some kind of cosmetic powder, framed by the phrase 'be a bomb!' Individually, each of Ferrera's collages is carefully composed and beautifully rendered; taken together, they are a damning and darkly humorous exploration of how advertisements articulate subversive messages about both purveyors and purchasers." (1/8/2003)
Gadi Dechter of Baltimore's City Paper described the work as follows:
"Ferrera paints in vivid, unnatural colors, superimposing artificial hues on her subjects (blond hair on dark-skinned women, for example) in the same way that consumer culture often imposes its beauty standards on its subordinates. That the slogans are written in broken English--familiar to anyone who has visited the non-English-speaking world--further emphasizes the misleading power of consumer advertising.
Ferrera also creates ironic tension by infusing sexual, racial, and political currents into these messages: In one work, a semi-reclining woman in a provocative red dress poses in front of a tube labeled 'feel real' with the slogan 'cock smart!' emblazoned underneath. In another piece, a grinning model proudly holds up a dispenser of some kind of cosmetic powder, framed by the phrase 'be a bomb!' Individually, each of Ferrera's collages is carefully composed and beautifully rendered; taken together, they are a damning and darkly humorous exploration of how advertisements articulate subversive messages about both purveyors and purchasers." (1/8/2003)
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Touch Me, 2003Acrylic and collage on paper
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Make It Habit, 2003Acrylic and collage on paper
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Blue Shampoo, 2003Acrylic and collage on paper
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Silkissed, 2003Acrylic and collage on paper
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Wash Away Lonely, 2005Acrylic and collage on paper
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Find Within Beauty, 2005Acrylic and collage on paper
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New Girl, 2005Acrylic and collage on paper
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Good Girl, 2005Acrylic and collage on paper
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Blue Question, 2005Acrylic and collage on paper
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Gipsy, 2007Acrylic and collage on paper
Tummyache
Tummyache was inspired by the craft of hand-painted signs and the advertising imagery of my youth. The paintings explore the collision of desire, satisfaction, overindulgence and nausea. At once, they revel in and critique the temptation ever-present in a consumer landscape of overly sweetened products and over-saturated images.
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Rainbow, Slap! Slap!, 2000Acrylic on wood
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Good, 2000Acrylic on wood
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Evil, 2000Acrylic on wood
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Fresh, Mmmmm..., 2000Acrylic on wood
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Super Dawg, 2000Acrylic on wood
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Waffle Fuck, 2000Acrylic on wood
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Lil' Sore O' Mine, 2000Acrylic on wood
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Tic Toc Love O'clock, 2000Acrylic on wood
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Sticky Treats, 2000Acrylic on wood
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Chemical Freak, 2000Acrylic on wood