Parades

Parades

Starting in 2008, I began investigating the notion of parades and carnivals as sites of collective celebration. Initially I experimented with ways to visually depict the experience of a parade.  In paintings, I selected and combined archetypal figures and built them with an array of materials. Eventually, the paintings expanded materially beyond the canvas.   When I found I couldn’t completely capture the visceral experience of a parade, I decided to organize a community pedestrian parade,The People's Joy Parade .  This parade involved; artists in hand made costumes, a community choir, and a high school marching band.  Finally I began to research the history of parades and processions.  This research lead to a series of smaller paintings that illustrated significant moments in the evolution of the parade.