Things Not Often Thought of as Families Often are Families

Artist Statement

The two main intentions for this work are whimsy and confoundment. When viewers laugh in delight or scratch their heads in wonder, that’s when I know that my work is hitting home. With this piece, I seek to upend the idea of family as a human construct. If family bonds can exist in inanimate objects – in this case Southern California’s iconic “wacky men,” then bonds can be built across problematic chasms of clashing values, cultures, or heritage. I understand art as “an act of subversion that uses entertainment to instruct,” and choose to convey my own subversive medium with a touch of whimsy and confoundment.