PROJECT: El Dorado Sign
I had the opportunity to work with the Mike Arnold, the owner of El Dorado, a bar in Carbondale, CO, which opened in the fall of 2023. He and his team had in mind a large sign envisioned for the space, and the project quickly became highly detailed, epically large, and I realized the need to collaborate with another artist. Fortunately my friend Andrew Chandler was up to the challenge and had the know-how to build out a 6-foot, 3-dimensional, fully electrified installation complete with CNC-cut MDF board and plexiglass background. Andrew is also an amazing jeweler and added a custom belt buckle and spur.
The design mockup basically stayed the same from start to finish, only modifying the background design so it could exist in real life. The cowboy is based on actor Slim Pickens’ character “Major Kong” as he rides a nuclear bomb in the 1964 dark comedy film “Dr. Strangelove”. We added our own twist to the cowboy and swapped out the bomb for a giant gold-foil-wrapped potato (Carbondale, CO, was at one point the #1 potato crop export in the country). The neon sign was custom ordered to match El Dorado’s font/logo. Other details include plexiglass cacti, hand-painted desert scenery, and a one of a kind psychedelic space-trip sky backdrop.
This was a huge undertaking lasting about 11 months in all from concept to fruition. I’m truly indebted to Andrew and others for their talent. If you’re ever in Carbondale, pay El Dorado a visit, you won’t regret it.
Final product
The afterparty
Side view
Opening night
Early digital mockup
Early Photoshop mockup
PROJECT: Giant Cardboard Head
The cardboard head is a long story, but was ultimately created for the culminating presentation of the 2023-2024 Aspen Art Museum Fellowship, of which I was a participant along with 5 other local creatives (Annie Bell, Chris Hassig, Savanna LaBauve, Brad Reed Nelson, and Nori Pao, under the mentorship of Teresa Booth Brown, AAM’s Director of Education and Community Programs).
The fellowship is an annual selective/juried program that lasts about 8 months. The participating artists meet about once a month and visit each other’s studios, learn about their art practices, analyze and edit artist statements, and more. It’s perfect for artists who might need an extra push and/or a closer look at the “why” behind their creative careers.
The presentation at the end of the program is open to the public, held upstairs at the Aspen Art Museum. The presentation is more of an opportunity for the artist to share about their fellowship experience than any kind of required end-product, which leaves a lot of room for interpretation, imagination, etc.
So back to the cardboard head. I had a wild vision of creating a self portrait in 3D. I don’t normally immediately jump on wild ideas like this, but was persuaded by others in the fellowship to follow that intuition. With about 2 weeks til the presentation I was able to source recycled cardboard boxes and build and paint a head that roughly resembled mine, hat, long hair, and all, measuring about 5 feet in diameter. Where do my ideas come from? Somewhere in there!
