Punctuation Suite
1995-1996
exhibited 2002-2004
Punctuations, a series of photocopy transfer prints, parallels an extensive body of sculptural work using recycled bicycle inner tube rubber (see Dialogue).
Each image in Punctuations pairs two signs taken from the computer keyboard. These signs are blown-up and recontextualized against backgrounds taken from fabric, then printed using a transfer method. Although this work is informed by readings on post-structuralist theory, the dilemma of fixed meaning in language, and deconstructive strategies that purport to reverse the cultural hierarchy of binary relationships, theory is secondary to the visual choices I make. These prints are brief visual poems. They reference the domestic, pop-culture format of needlepoint sayings that decorate kitchens across North America. The surface designs are appropriated from purchased fabrics. I delight in working with the mundane materials of everyday life, in this case the punctuation used daily by anyone who writes.
