Day of the Dead Icons

Inspired by the Day of the Dead celebration and art, these works combine that genre with the iconographic world of orthodox Christianity. Where the worlds intersect this pieces reside. I have always been mesmerized by the decorative and death, how to create beauty out of the unknown...a central figure, the common man...featured and an icon, hero...the tooth references both dream death imagery and the reliquary which were elaborate containers to hold the bones of saints...these were featured at the Day of the Dead celebration this past weekend at For Art Sake in Hollywood Florida.

My Little Monsters

These ideas came about while working on my new book, not sure if they will ever manifest themselves into a children's book, but they were challenging to create! Here is an acrylic painting of one of "my little monsters," much in the style of contemporary west coast art scene....This piece will be in an exhibition entitled "Smal World, Small Works 2010" at the Chico Art Center - Chico, California - November-December 2010!

Dark As the Darkest Night

This piece is the culmination of a series of small steps documenting memories from my past...Sifting through the thoughts and attempting to find visual representations of those moments...the image above is a top view of the work and I have also inlcuded via the title link, a video that documents the installation with commentary...

Another kind of invasion

From specificity to general....this Madrid, Spain installation work invades the city space and produce a unique combination of technology and nature...the bird forms reside in an industrial form...they adapt and grow on the scaffolding...instead of just having these birds sitting and separate from the space they are integrated through the lights housed in their nests...the yellow is caution and also draws attention to the works themselves...

A beautiful way to take something temporary and make the transition decorative and complete...why wait for the construction process to be over before beauty can come alive...create interest and beauty in the process of change...Have these ideas co-exist...living and breathing in an ever changing landscape...aged and dieing...born and growing...

Controlling a dream

Several years ago an amazing event occurred...while being pulled into a cave, running away from those dark thoughts in my subconscience, my dream was interrupted...the anxiety and stress of what was yet to come seemed to slip away in favor of my need to see other things in my dream landscape. I have yet to speak to anyone who has completely controlled a dream, from the inside out, but I am sure there are more...the move Inception brought this back to life for me...In my dream, the interior of the cave had these amazing cave paintings and my conscious had to see what my subconscious had created...

As I broke away from the flow of the dream, I walked over to the wall and began to visually document it's surface and the images. Human face drawings, severed at the neck, floated along the rock wall...I did manage to do several drawings from the experience...I also woke up feeling incredible, like I could take on the world!

Contrasts and Juxapositions

Playing with cast teeth I explore the macabre in a decorative context...I truly enjoy this juxtaposition...attracting the viewer with something seemingly beautiful, drawing in them in with not only the shininess but also the scale...these works literally need to be seen in close proximity...forcing the viewer to confront concepts and meaning they may not be ready to address...teeth are dream imagery for death...they have personal meaning for me in this context, but they also take on a possible universal meaning for my guest...loss...pain...breaking down of sustenance...class...culture...and human evolved existence...

The form is beautiful and clever...functional...with a distinct top...the business of the tooth, above the surface of the gum...visible and clean...Below the surface is the root...the protected, messy part of the form...twisted, jagged, rough in texture...this contrast is visually compelling and at the same time, horrifying in its possibilities.

NEW Children's Book!!!

Details on my new children's book...the book is an exploration of coping with fear that children can use to deal with those feelings...the idea came from several years of reading to my son and daughter and watching them struggle with normal developmental issues...a unique book that is also fun and interactive! To purchase the book - it is listed at Etsy and on my blog... www.animalsgetscaredtoojustlikeyou.blogspot.com ...also feel free to email me if you have questions... jalzoartist@gmail.com.