I submitted a proposal to the curatorial staff at Glenview Mansion in Rockville, MD to do a site specific installation and response to the gallery space. I was offered a choice of two rooms and chose the gallery next to Mrs Lyon Smith's dressing room, which has been historically replicated and installed. I acquired clothing reminiscent of the eras during which the mansion saw its height of activity and social entertaining (1920s-50s). The photos here are installation views and the following two projects show the screen printed costumes dating from these eras. (My personal favorite is the Cher-bodysuit!).

In September of 2016 I developed a visual installation in response to the gallery assigned to me, which was adjacent to Mrs Lyon Smith's dressing room. Mrs Lyon Smith was a Washington socialite who entertained at the mansion from the 1920s-1950s. I obtained costumes from Center Stage Baltimore reflective of these eras and screen printed on the costumes, as well as vintage gloves and sewing patterns.

In the fireplace, I positioned a book made on felted paper and folded into origami tessellation design to evoke a sense of a fire.
On the walls are located sewing patterns of period era clothing upon which I screen printed my Scrabble design.

These ten photos are details of several of the costumes acquired and printed with my Scrabble design.

More in the series of costumes that I had acquired from Center Stage Theatre in Baltimore. It was necessary to repair, mend, destain, and wash many of the costumes before they were ready for printing.
Unlike my works on paper which can handle as many as 8-10 layers of paint, the prints on fabric can really only take 1-3 layers. The monochromatic result is interesting when interspersed with a complimentary color somewhere within the printing.

Rather than a single sheet book binding, as all past projects have been (including NN), this is a frontal layout of one game. This "binding", if you will, is a tete-beche (from the French, meaning head to tail). One side of the screen is right side up reading and if one walked to the back, the work is upside down. The precedent was set as early as the 16th century for The New Testament and Psalter, as each book was needed during services. In a 1956 novel by Patrick Dennis, The Loving Couple: His (and Her) Story, the author used the tete beche binding to give each character a separate voice in the narrative. Because the letters left at games end were "II", I chose to use the tete beche binding (loosely interpreted, to say the least) for this screen. My opening haiku for each side:

I am, she uttered
Head to tail, I stand upright
Cut and run? Or stay?

I am, replied he.
Tail to head, I'm upside down.
Rocky road traveled.

A book designed and developed via a springboard called The Ideation Project. Six idea cards are drawn and the ensing product was developed as a result of those cards.
Each of my works are developed from a single concept - a visual and linguistic interpretation of a game of Scrabble. I screen print the pattern from the finished game. The title of the book is the letters left at game's end. The narrative is based on the words played during the game. As Scrabble is a game of brevity, I have chosen haiku. Below are examples written for this specific game.

Led Zeppelin sings
My ears hear Zed Leppelin!
Jefferson Starship

Page, Plant, Bonham, Jones
Alcohol binge kills player
Stairway to Heaven

A song for Sara
No time is good for goodbye
Slick rasps a sad dirge

Large tub of butter
Baking a better batter
Bitter buns abound

Apples and pears, dears.
Aloe?! Anyone at home?
Cockney rhyming slang.

Passengers emplane
Pilot announces flight plan
Cacophonous squeg

Turbulence ensues
Plethora of distressed kophs
Tranquil skies ahead

Play it, Sam. Play it.
Of all the gin joints...
Bogart delivers

Installation for exhibition at Ferguson Gallery at Loyola/Notre Dame University Library.

My work focuses on interpreting games of Scrabble that I have played. The structure of a finite set of conditions (a board of 225 squares on a 15x15 grid and 100 letters) and the subsequent permutations that result are compiled and visually interpreted. In this case of NN, I wanted to respond to the exhibition space in a way that would stretch the definition of a book. NN is compiled of 98 pages and each hanging strand is a chapter, if you will. The narrative (haiku, or more correctly, senryu) is strung amongst the illustrations.

Each documented game of Scrabble is interpreted into a different book type. Other projects include traditional book arts.

The opening haiku is written based on the letters left at game's end (NN) as well as including words played during the game. In this instance, FUD is an acceptable Scrabble word and means fear, uncertainty, doubt.

Handmade artist book with 98 screen print pages and 30 interleaves of original Haiku, all based on one game played of Scrabble.
I began with a finite set of parameters : 225 squares, 100 letter tiles. How many variations and ways are there to visually represent one Scrabble game? Each book presented is based solely on one game.
During the process of creating the screen prints, I randomly added woodblock letters (in the original positions to the documented resource game) and then from those random letters, rearranged and contextualized the words using Haiku as the narrative form.

Handmade artist book with 98 screen print pages and 30 interleaves of original Haiku, all based on one game played of Scrabble.
I began with a finite set of parameters : 225 squares, 100 letter tiles. How many variations and ways are there to visually represent one Scrabble game? Each book presented is based solely on one game.
During the process of creating the screen prints, I randomly added woodblock letters (in the original positions to the documented resource game) and then from those random letters, rearranged and contextualized the words using Haiku as the narrative form.

This particular game was interpreted at full Scrabble-scale! Deluxe version! The paper is handmade heavy weight paper - its only distributor in the US is Daniel Smith. I spoke to Daniel Smith himself who told me that the paper is brought down from the mountains in India by sherpa. The 100% cotton rag and mottled texture of the paper made it perfect for multiple screen passes. The result is a truly beautiful painterly effect.

Once the prints and interleaves were finished, I found I had a very large book and needed a very large box. Given the Eastern influence of my work (using Haiku and the logographic reference in the prints), I chose a hinged box of Japanese influence.

HAIKU HAIR CIGARETTES:
Rolled cigarettes, with human hair, and screen print Haiku

These are a visual autobiography of my ancestry. My father was a lifelong smoker of Camel unfiltered cigarettes. My mother's family were hairdressers and own many salons as well as a beauty school. The haiku are those written for my Scrabble books.

POSTCARDS HOME:
A postbox is placed in public venues with instructions for people to post messages to me via snail mail. This began in 2003 during my own travels. I would make a postcard and mail it back to myself.
I have since asked viewers to mail me a message.
This has had quite limited success here in the US, however, while living in the UK the response was tremendous.
I compile the messages, scan them, and configure them into collapsible books/posters.

A postbox is placed in public venues with instructions for people to post messages to me via snail mail. This began in 2003 during my own travels. I would make a postcard and mail it back to myself.
I have since asked viewers to mail me a message.
This has had quite limited success here in the US, however, while living in the UK the response was tremendous.
I compile the messages, scan them, and configure them into collapsible books/posters.