Survival Tools



Solo Exhibit and Site-Specific Installation at Museum of Wisconsin Art / 2018



In this site-specific installation, I focus on two main subjects: the gundog and the bulldog. One represents war and violence, and the other protest and speech. Both subjects are fighting for their right to live.

Click to read the full Artist Statement

Survival Tools focuses on the stories of characters in opposition. The gundog (with a gun for a head) represents war and violence. The bulldog (with a bullhorn for a head) represents protest and speech. At the center of their division is each subject's desire to fight for what they believe is necessary for survival, and in the end, whose stories will be memorialized. In this work, I connect the personal with the political. I claim space and identity for the stories we might otherwise miss. I am here not necessarily to find common ground, but always to defend the uncommon, and the lessons from history that grow increasingly rare. Because beyond all our disputes over technology, war, human rights, and the environment are the effects of these disagreements upon the lives of individuals and communities. I ask, what will it take, to see beyond the power struggles between individuals, and change the larger paradigms that preside over all of us? It is this type of awareness that can change our minds, our hearts, and what we need to survive into the future.

In his final sermon on March 31, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., stated the following, "There can be no gainsaying of the fact that a great revolution is taking place in the world today. In a sense it is a triple revolution: that is, a technological revolution, with the impact of automation and cybernation; then there is a revolution in weaponry, with the emergence of atomic and nuclear weapons of warfare; then there is a human rights revolution, with the freedom explosion that is taking place all over the world. Yes, we do live in a period where changes are taking place. And there is still the voice crying through the vista of time saying, "Behold, I make all things new; former things are passed away." -- "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution"

Photo Credit of Installation: Latasia Dhami

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Woodcut Gundog

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Woodcut Gundog 2

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Woodcut Gundog 3

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art 2

Title: Overview of the Museum Gallery
Medium: Woodcut, Ink, Woodshavings, Mixed Media
Dimensions: variable
Originals and Limited Edition Prints Available
Photo Credit: Latasia Dhami

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Woodcut Gundog 4

Title: Enough to be Dangerous
Medium: Woodcut, Ink
Dimensions: 48 x 38 inches
Original Woodblock and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Woodcut Gundog 5

Title: Man's Well-Regulated Friends
Medium: Woodcut, Ink
Dimensions: 40 x 60 inches
Original Woodblock and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Woodcut Gundog 6

Title: Center of Mass
Medium: Woodcut, Ink
Dimensions: 40 x 60 inches
Original Woodblock and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Woodcut Gundog 7

Title: A Voice Crying Through the Vista of Time
Medium: Woodcut, Ink
Dimensions: 48 x 38 inches
Original Woodblock and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Woodcut Gundog 8

Title: In Memoriam: Everything We Remember, Everything We Forget
Medium: Ink drawing on paper
Dimensions: 30 x 20 inches framed, 40 x 30 inches framed
Original Drawing and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art

Title: Triple Revolution
Medium: Mixed Media, Found Objects
Dimensions: 11 x 14 x 3 inches per box
Original Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art 3

Title: Man's Well-Regulated Friends
Medium: Woodcut, Ink, Woodshavings
Dimensions: 40 x 60 inches, plus shavings
Original Woodblock and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art 4

Title: Center of Mass
Medium: Woodcut, Ink
Dimensions: 40 x 60 inches
Original Woodblock and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art 5

Title: Detail shot of the Museum Show
Medium: Woodcut, Ink, Woodshavings, Mixed Media
Dimensions: variable
Originals and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art 6

Title: Overview of the Museum Gallery
Medium: Woodcut, Ink, Woodshavings, Mixed Media
Dimensions: variable
Originals and Limited Edition Prints Available

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art 7

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art 8

Survival Tools - Museum of Wisconsin Art - Found Object Art 9

Title: Full Balcony View of the Horicon Bank Gallery
Medium: Woodcut, Ink, Woodshavings, Mixed Media
Dimensions: variable
Originals and Limited Edition Prints Available
Photo credit: Andrea Waala (MOWA staff)

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