Calligrapher Aoi Yamaguchi and dancer Mika Yanagihara perform at Fivepoints Arthouse

I asked Ben Needham to professionally photograph my piece for HIdden Cities. We decided to use the concrete floor of the Project Gallery for the background. The first shot was a neat  arrangement.  The lighting above created a wonderful shimmer on the waxed paper, which was unexpected. The second shot tells a better story, although the effect of the translucent shimmer is lost. 

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I've been thinking about the piece to submit to Hidden Cities, where we are challenged to depict our secret "city." I decided to explore the life of the "shoe people," whose invisible city I grew up in. These shoes are made of waxed paper and injet photos on vellum, a fragile, translucent depiction of simple flats.  I made as many as I could with the paper at hand and piled the shoes up in a heap.

This altered doll took several months to complete. I started with an idea to convert a typical blond-haired, blue-eyed doll into a Japanese character, complete with kimono. I found the perfect doppleganger at Thrift Town. I painted her red and she immediately transformed from a Scandinavian to a demon. Her pale hair was dyed black with ink. I blacked out her eyes but that looked too dead so added googly eyes. Her kimono is made of cheesecloth. I love working with gel medium because it's such a versatile glue.