The Vessel Series: Mutton Street & Pydhonie

I have a second city, Mumbai. It is a sprawling, attenuated metropolis consisting of lots of little villages strung together. In the lower part of the sprawl lies the Chor Bazaar. I found myself in the middle of Mutton Street with a dusty basket on my lap. Out in the street gents were trying to sell tourists greasy car parts. Tethered goats were blinking in the sun. Several teas later I found my faces.

Pydhonie is a nearby neighborhood where I have spent many a morning enjoying the ancient crumbling building fronts and pleasant cacaphony of the metalworkers.

Close your eyes and you might hear the hammers.

Vessel: Pydhonie 1 2010 2 1/2" x 5 1/2 " x 1"

Vessel: Pydhonie 2 2010 2 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 1"

Vessel: Mutton Street 1 2010 2 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 1"

Vessel: Mutton Street 2 2010 2 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 1"

The Vessel Series: Romita

People often ask where I get the photographic images that I use in my work. Normally I am reticent to share that information because I don't think the photos are the focus of the work. The photos are the icons that guide the work. The work is the response to the images. However, some of the images I am working with in the "Vessel" series have been procured after much searching, so I will share a little. The Romita image was found on a moody day of penetrating rain in Mexico City. I had heard of a junk shop in the Roma neighborhood and I sought it out. After struggling to find the words in my faulty spanish I was able to convey that I was looking for cabinet cards. There she was at the bottom of a moldy stack of cardboard: my Romita. It was my birthday present to myself.

But the children's songs she sings to me as I do the work I will not share. Even if I did, I have already told you that my spanish is faulty.

Vessel: Romita 1 (3 1/2" x 8" x 1 1/2") 2010

Vessel: Romita 2 (2 1/2" x 6" x 1") 2010

Vessel: Romita 3 (2 1/2 x 5 1/2" x 1")

Vessel: Romita 4 (2 1/2" x 5" x 1")