The Blank Canvas

2004. Sewn-sponge composition. 39" x 46" $399.99 plus $28.99 for shipping. Click here if you want this piece.

Sponges have issues. First, they haven't got a lot of strength, so one's pre-conceived notions about how to hang them are idiotic. I have had so many people who have never sewn a sponge tell me how to hang this thing... if it doesn't sag under the various forces, it starts being tensed to the point of breakage. The way I get this to hang so neatly on the wall is by way of a carefully-constructed back piece, which I learned a lot making (I don't make mistakes; I just learn things).

Neither I, nor any of my artwork, are affiliated with or imitative of

any

cartoon shows or characters. My idea to sew sponges together and occasionally paint on them is my decision, not particularly based on pop culture.

Okay, now that I've written about what this isn't, I'll relate some of what it is. This is a personal statement about human interpersonal relationships. Its working title was 'Friendship, Love and Coalitions,' because I wanted to interplay the sponges being sewn together against the paint intended to cover them. Each sponge in this composition is a body unto itself; a cell in an organism, perhaps. Like Napoleon Hill, however, I believe in the Mastermind -- when a group of individuals combine their energies toward a common goal, with each contributing both skill and respect, ten can accomplish ten thousand times that of one. These dozens of sponges combine into a community, where neighbors and friends and lovers seek their own individual well-being and profit, and dually cooperate for great fortunes. We are each after our own ends, yet we are all connected. Now, if you could see the other side (and based on what people told me, you're glad you can't), you might hardly see the red stitching holding one sponge to another, through all the paint. Simply put, what we see on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg. Where two sponges might seem to connect because of the paint on the surface, separate from other "coalitions" and visually competing with them, all are part of the same canvas. If that sounds like bullshit, tough. It's for real. Yes, I surrendered to what was popular, in decided which side to display. Nearly everyone likes the minimalist 'bare sponges.' They amaze people, just by their simplicity and the relatively unused medium of kitchen sponge. Go figure.