qUirkFACTORY

Black Lungs in a Museum Store

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:31:28 +0000

The Mutter Museum Store agreed to carry my Black Lung necklaces on consignment! It’s an amazing and creepy institution in Philadelphia, and the perfect location for my ickier concoctions.

The opportunity gave me cause to create a one-sheet with my work that was a good exercise in self-promotion.

Vein + Artery Cameo

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:24:58 +0000

Octopus Attack

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:19:57 +0000

Intestinal Tesselation

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 01:44:12 +0000

Back to the Insides

admin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:34:52 +0000

After a break, I’m back to playing with anatomy in time to coincide with a resurgence of anatomical activity in my life–MRIs, colonoscopies, the works. Using a facsimile of Gray’s Anatomy, I am choosing the most ornamental of illustrations for possible jewelry or screen prints.

Whenever I work from the anatomical interpretations of a skilled illustrator, I’m always aware that I’m at least one visual filter removed from the actual “giblets” (to use the charming Maria Bamford term). I can’t imagine having it any other way, having far to weak a stomach to endure even the birth videos in Family Life and Human Reproduction 101. I need the selective attention of an illustrator to even introduce me to the subject matter, removing the bits of gag inducing information and focusing on the functioning and majesty of nature parts.

I’m hoping to get access to the imaging that they are doing of my insides, which have the non-subjective filters of technological capacity standing between me and any gag inducing realism. I suppose all of my work is playing with the puke reflex to some extent. In philanthropic work, folks work against empathic barriers based on distance. It’s interesting to think that barriers to unfathomable realities are also also present in physically proximal entities, our bodies.

Iconography

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:34:05 +0000

Not sacrilegious, but rather encouraged for a change as I was required to rapidly develop an icon set for the “catch-all” section of my Museum’s homepage. Inspired by the iphone, it is intended as a way to give every department the coveted spot on the homepage. The icons came together in an afternoon, and the styling took another day or so.

Live final:

With mouseover state:

Procrastination Innovation

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:55:30 +0000

A small organizational success of recent years is that I’ve become better at actually filling the appealing moleskine journals that I can’t stop myself from purchasing. Despite this seeming triumph of productivity, they have become a useful procrastination device. If I find myself unable to focus, I generally begin to clean (it’s just about the only way I am motivated to clean). On a recent visit to my art studio, I did the drafting equivalent of this, by categorically drawing all of my art supplies so that I might figure out the best way to logically organize them. It was quite fun, and truly the best way to get a handle on my sprawling accumulation of tools.

I did the same in preparation for a screenprinting workshop for 10 people that had me pretty nervous. It helped me get a handle on what I had and what I needed.

Happy Purim/Chinese New Year

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:51:35 +0000

I’m planning a Chinese New Year/Purim celebration, and got it in my head that I wanted the invitations to look like the red envelopes that are given out with “gelt” in them. My friend Aron did the Chinese calligraphy and scribe Julie Seltzer did the Hebrew. They both say “gong shi fah tzai”, a wish of good fortune and wealth. The insert features a tiger representing Chinese New Year, a hamentashen representing Purim, and of course, a tiger chowing on a Hamtashen representing the intersection of the two.

Teach Me to Screenprint

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:00:12 +0000

After finally obtaining a screenprinting-friendly studio, I was eager to spread the wealth and teach a few artsy friends this complex and at first bewildering process that gets easier with experience and when done in large quantities. After a year and half of hemming and hawing, it finally happened with a great turnout and a lot of enthusiasm.

After coating the screens with photoemulsion, the images are burned onto the screens using shop lights. The transparencies block out the areas that are not hardened by the light.

Lawrence with his final screen, and the prints he pulled.

Gina and Mindy teamed up to pull tons of valentines. They also provided all the non-screenprinting chemicals that one requires.

Kyle and Rachel’s pieces, which included a fetus, deer, and images from an old TV repair manual.

Aron’s ambitious 2-color Obama print, including a false start where in screenprinting zealousness he forgot the paper!

My True Calling

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:52:25 +0000

Perhaps my creative focus is drifting…

How to Make a Challah

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:55:56 +0000

I love instructional diagrams, even of the most simple tasks. The scribe that we have working at the CJM led this challah-making workshop and I captured it on film. She had the dough pre-made so the disgram complicates what was really a sweet and simple process, but it was so fun to make.

Prelude to Organ Involvement

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:23:52 +0000

So for a bit of a change, a recent project has to do with the time before the organs get involved. In an effort to create more interesting content for the institutional blog I manage for a Jewish institution, I proposed to a few friends that we create a series of monthly dinner parties based on a Jewish holiday of the moment and another Bay Area culture. January is a slow month, so we used Tu B’Shevat as a jumping off point: the “new year” of the trees. One friend is an amazing chef, the other an exceptional event planner, and I provided the Judaica, print materials, and documentation. TEAM WORK. Really, it was so nice to see everyone playing to their strengths and contributing something essential, despite assorted illnesses and power outages which threatened to end the event. Next month = Purim + Chinese New Year.

More photos here.

Artichoke tart + pomegranate glaze.

Broccoli = little trees! The chef and the table

Last minute place cards which made quick use of a big stash of envelopes I bought at a going out of business sale for a dollar. The menu was on the brown card inside the envelope. After papermaking was a big fail, I had to come up with something on the day of the event, and the pressure, as always, did me good.