COLBY MUSEUM OF ART in Watertown, Maine.
Site-specific installation, commissioned by the Colby Museum of Art.
Terraced wood platforming, covered with cork tile and a series of Shag Chenille Topiary Chairs providing functional seating for viewing or being viewed.

COLBY MUSEUM OF ART in Watertown, Maine.
Site-specific installation, commissioned by the Colby Museum of Art.
Terraced wood platforming, covered with cork tile and a series of Shag Chenille Topiary Chairs providing functional seating for viewing or being viewed.

Installation at DeCordova Museum. Lincoln, Ma.

Installation at Decordova Museum. Lincoln, Ma.

Installation at DeCordova Museum. Lincoln, Ma.

Installation at DeCordova Museum. Lincoln, Ma.

Installation at DeCordova Museum. Lincoln, Ma.

Installation view at Editions and Artist Books.

TOPIA is a word fragment derived partly from the word UTOPIA; an ideal but unattainable state and TOPIARY; an artificially sculpted landscape.

Referencing Robert Indiana's famous LOVE sculpture from the 1960's, this smaller, softer version offers a different word for our time; LESS.

Referencing Robert Indiana's famous LOVE sculpture from the 1960's, this smaller, softer version offers a different word for our time; LESS.

The word LESS is spelled out in carpet that appears to be rising up from or sinking into the floor.

A-Frame house kits became popular in the 60’s and 70’s. They were available at the local lumberyard for $3000.
This A-Frame, with one end up on stilts, can still be traversed by the viewer who enters by stepping through the roof beams and onto the slanted floor.
Video projections cover the windows and doors.

A-Frame house kits became popular in the 60’s and 70’s. They were available at the local lumberyard for $3000.
This A-Frame, with one end up on stilts, can still be traversed by the viewer who enters by stepping through the roof beams and onto the slanted floor.
Video projections cover the windows and doors.

A-Frame house kits became popular in the 60’s and 70’s. They were available at the local lumberyard for $3000.
This A-Frame, with one end up on stilts, can still be traversed by the viewer who enters by stepping through the roof beams and onto the slanted floor.
Video projections cover the windows and doors.

A-Frame house kits became popular in the 60’s and 70’s. They were available at the local lumberyard for $3000.
This A-Frame, with one end up on stilts, can still be traversed by the viewer who enters by stepping through the roof beams and onto the slanted floor.
Video projections cover the windows and doors.

This installation is comprised of 4 functioning Bean Bag Chairs made from artificial grass and 10 photographs of suburban ranch houses built in the 60's.

This installation is comprised of 4 functioning Bean Bag Chairs made from artificial grass and 10 photographs of suburban ranch houses built in the 60's.

This installation is comprised of 4 functioning Bean Bag Chairs made from artificial grass and 10 photographs of suburban ranch houses built in the 60's.

Based on Le Corbusiers' LE PETITE CONFORT. This version is 50% larger. Plywood and aluminum replace the leather and chrome of the original.

Based on George Nelsons' Platform Bench. This version is twice as large, made of construction grade 2"x4"s.

Based on Marcel Breurs' Nesting Tables. This version is 50% larger. Plywood and aluminum replace the ebony and chrome of the original.

A small embedded monitor plays an endless loop of the opening shot from a popular 60's sitcom in which a man (Dick Van Dyke) trips over his ottomon in one shot and skips around it in the next.

A small embedded monitor plays an endless loop of the opening shot from a popular 60's sitcom in which a man (Dick Van Dyke) trips over his ottomon in one shot and skips around it in the next.

Inverted Butterfly Chairs

Inverted Butterfly Chair.

Based on the Butterfly Chair, considered to be one of the most copied designs of all time. These chairs without stands, hang off the wall.

Based on LeCorbusiers' Le Petite Confort chair. This fabric, from the south of France, shows traditional provencal folk patterns.

Two plaid carpet runners, 70 ft long each, navigate the viewer through two rooms of the gallery. Wooden benches, replicas of George Nelsons 1947 Platform Bench, are upended and half buried in the carpet. Plywood and 2”x4” replace the maple and ebony of the original benches.

Two plaid carpet runners, 70 ft long each, navigate the viewer through two rooms of the gallery. Wooden benches, replicas of George Nelsons 1947 Platform Bench, are upended and half buried in the carpet. Plywood and 2”x4” replace the maple and ebony of the original benches.

Two plaid carpet runners, 70 ft long each, navigate the viewer through two rooms of the gallery. Wooden benches, replicas of George Nelsons 1947 Platform Bench, are upended and half buried in the carpet. Plywood and 2”x4” replace the maple and ebony of the original benches.

Two plaid carpet runners, 70 ft long each, navigate the viewer through two rooms of the gallery. Wooden benches, replicas of George Nelsons 1947 Platform Bench, are upended and half buried in the carpet. Plywood and 2”x4” replace the maple and ebony of the original benches.