Luna Window

AC Institute, Chelsea NYC, September – November 2013
In 1940, public housing was constructed on the former site of Luna Park, Cleveland’s answer to Coney Island. The project, Woodhill, was the city’s largest. I moved into it at age fourteen, white, Jewish and isolated.
“Luna Window” is a series that exposes the irony of fantasy amusements descending into a wretched reality. It is a narrative of broken homes, broken dreams and the despair of one within a prison, pressed against the window unable to escape. The ladder is constructed of stained silk organza and stuffed with human hair, which I collect from hair salons. The diversity of hair from anonymous donors, each an individual DNA, place them in an environment not of their making. It is not a far reach these donors suffer a like predicament in reality.
What is frustrating is the lack of solutions. Luna Window communicates this internal frustration. Taken a step further, many of us have a “project” instilled memory – shame, guilt, or remorse – that resurfaces as we present an alternative face to the world.
Rust and tea stained silk organza, human hair, thread, wool, yarn, string, old windows and old door
Rust and tea stained silk organza stuffed with human hair, cheesecloth, leather, various yarns, string and thread, old nails and fabricated old window
Rust and tea stained silk organza stuffed with human hair, cheesecloth, leather, various yarns, string and thread, old nails and fabricated old window
Rust and tea stained silk organza, human hair, thread, wool, yarn, string, and old door.
Rust and tea stained silk organza, human hair, thread, wool, yarn, string, and old door.
Silk Organza, rust, tea, human hair, encaustic, string, thread, yarn, nails, and fabricated old window. 120Lx108wx96h
Silk Organza, rust, tea, human hair, encaustic, string, thread, yarn, nails, and fabricated old window. 120Lx108wx96h
Rust and tea stained silk organza, human hair, thread, wool, yarn, string, old windows, cast wax, old lintel, old stained pillow, rusted chain and nail
Rust and tea stained silk organza, human hair, thread, wool, yarn, string, and old windows.
Rust and tea stained silk organza, human hair, thread, wool, yarn, string, and fabricated old window.
Rolled rusted steel, cast iron animal, rusted chain, old pillow, silk organza.
Rolled rusted steel, cast iron animal, rusted chain, old pillow, silk organza.
Rolled rusted steel, cast iron animal, rusted chain, old pillow, silk organza.
“A Measure: Animal No.1” 2013 (left) Cast wax (paraffin, beeswax, carnuba) animal, old stained pillow, rusted chain, old nail, old lintel.
cast wax, old lintel, old stained pillow, rusted chain and nail
Cast wax (paraffin, beeswax, carnuba) dry pigment powder, silver graphite powder, old stained pillow with encaustic, old rusted chain, old square nail, old lintel.