Pumps with a Purpose Project

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Pumps with a Purpose Project, 2009 (Sponsored by the Courier newspaper, Waterloo, Iowa)

Seeds of Hope makes prominent on its web homepage the phrase, “A nurturing world free from violence.” This is precisely the world I want to live in, but I never kid myself into feeling too comfortable. As a gay man, I am always alert to the smile that is too calculating. I know that a joyful laugh can precede an epithet and a friendly handshake can become a chokehold.

The piece I have created for this project and fundraiser is my vision of the dexterity, power, and authority of flight. In this case, the sculpture invokes the alert posture prior to takeoff, that moment before movement, and the exhilaration of feeling boundless. The colors, patterns, and textures are deliberate. To me, they represent the bounty of life and the colossal will of nature to be shamelessly brilliant.

This composition resonates with me and helps tell my own story. It is also an image that makes me happy and hopeful.

Darrell and Mark's July Wedding

Happy Couple

Presentation by Officiant Gypsy Dolgos

Darrell and Mark flanking my mom Nancy

Mark and mom Bev

Here are some pics taken by Crawdad Lavely on the day of my wedding to Mark McCusker. The ceremony and party took place on Sunday, July 19, 2009 at Old Brick in Iowa City, Iowa. It was a colorful event with great music, much dancing, and just a little drama - what public event isn't? Much love to all who came, partied, and supported us.

Photos by Jay Diers

Photo #1 by Jay Diers

Photo #2 by Jay Diers

Pictures used in the June 2009 issue of Iowa City's "Little Village" publication about Gay Marriage in Iowa. We're very honored to be on the cover.

Awards News

Cat Chow, "Keeper"

Cat Chow, "36 Chambers"

Cat Chow, "Ceremony"

This spring/summer, the UNI Gallery of Art together with the UNI Arts Consortium received three major grants in support of Fall 2009 programming centered on the art of Cat Chow. Funding was received from the following granting agencies: Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation for the production of an exhibition catalogue with an essay by noted author Bradley Quinn; and Guernsey Charitable Foundation and Iowa Arts Council for the mounting of a retrospective exhibition titled "Love Me or Die" along with a theatrical production of "Marat Sade." This is incredibly good news in light of economic conditions in the art world and the world in general. As Director of the Gallery and a member of the Consortium, I'd like to thank all those who worked hard to make sponsorship possible. Now comes the even harder task of mounting productions and hosting events!

Drawings: Russia 2003

St. Peterburg, Russia, Summer 2003

Impressions 1 through 5 (only four are pictured) began as a visual way to document for my own edification the images, symbols, and cultural artifacts of St. Petersburg. All were completed during my stay. Each of the drawings contains a multitude of representations composed intuitively, as in the “automatic” writing – in this case, drawing - practice of the early 20^th century Surrealists, the intention of which was to allow ideas and feelings to flow spontaneously onto the paper during the drawing process. In this way, observations and, most importantly, associative imagery could be marked down without excessive reasoning or interpretation; furthermore, the use of permanent ink markers made revising or altering all but impossible. As a visitor to and willing participant in another culture, I felt that recording impressions in this way was more respectful since I could not possibly know or understand the weight and complexity of any given historical figure, design motif, or aesthetic philosophy.

Contemporary Russian culture is more rich and varied than I could have possibly imagined. Through these drawings I wish to convey my great respect and continued fascination with the history, the geography, the climate, the art and architecture as well as the traditions and customs of Russia.

Marriage License - May 1, 2009

At the Johnson Co. Recorder's Office with husband Mark McCusker and pals Rachelle and Karen (Iowa City, IA)

"Flow" Exhibition Oct/Nov 2008

Installation View of my solo exhibition at Wartburg College, Waverly, IA (2008)

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Since 1994, I have created objects and time-based works (i.e., performances, videos, and installations) that reflect my interests in multi-layered narratives, representations of the human body, and printed imagery from the popular culture of the last half-century. In many ways, I use the interpretation of images, language, and symbology in mass media as an excuse to work with the tools and materials of the drafting table. I find the subversiveness of juxtaposing seemingly disparate images and ideas too alluring to ignore in my creative life, and I would probably find a way to do this whether or not I had a drafting table. In fact, many of my early performance works were exercises in constructing relations between unlike things, not for the purpose of jolting or provoking the observer but to illustrate the inherent associations they have despite the contemporary politics and the rhetoric that might insist otherwise. My collage work is a natural extension of this pursuit.

My most recent concern in artmaking is the establishment of a sense of flow, what author Mihaly Csikszentmihaly refers to as a state of mind which is “like being carried way by a current, everything moving smoothly without effort” (p. xiii of The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the New Millennium). Since my work method already includes the free-associative mingling of imagery and metaphor, I feel flow contributes to the honest as well as playful creation of work and allows for a sense of well being in the stimulating and often challenging process of composition.

Review 1 from the Courier newspaper, Waterloo, IA

Review 2 from the Courier newspaper, Waterloo, IA