I am a lover of all things campy and kitsch. From andy warhol to judith leiber, and john waters, my list of creative influences is enormous. As an artist and consumer, I am a child of mass media and a partial slave to advertisement. The shiny sparkly goes down easy collection addresses my morbid curiosity with consumerism and its ever-engrossing appeal. We have become a world of “bling,” where “shiny” is “better” and a glitzy surface can mask whatever may be rotten within or loaded with artery clogging trans fats.

Initially, the shiny sparkly goes down easy series began as a light-hearted parody, paying homage to iconic foods first introduced to the american public during the 1950s. With the boom of commerce, these mass-produced “consumables” were once grand staples of a “proper” american diet. However, with all the stringent health concerns facing americans today, these items are far more dismissive and some are often considered “white trash” delicacies. I wanted to honor where we were as a society unaware of what we know now. As this body of work continued to expand, I have furthered my exploration of the intoxicating allure and inherent threat posed by advertisement specifically in the fast food arena. This work celebrates iconic items of consumption but turns a critical gaze upon those of us who “just can’t get enough”. Hungrily we gorge on iconography like that of overly processed, high fructose induced and carb-loaded consumables that pacify us temporarily but always leave us with a fleeting yearning for more.

From one of a kind, hand-cast acrylic resin fried chicken (fashioned from actual kentucky fried chicken) to hand sculpted bronze reinterpreted starbuck’s cups; every detail I have amassed strives to turn the ordinary into something far more extraordinary. Each bejeweled sculpture is comprised of tens of thousands of individually hand-placed swarovski crystals.