Simulacrum

The encased objects extend Simulacra from photography into physical space. Each sculpture contains an object that also appears, or is referenced, within one of the staged photographs: a plastic flower, a broken bottle, a hammer, a burned Bible. Removed from its original context and suspended in clear epoxy, the object becomes both familiar and strangely inaccessible.

Like the photographs, these sculptures are rooted in contemporary social issues and the symbols through which we understand them. Objects associated with violence, faith, consumption, beauty, labor, or destruction carry meanings that have been shaped by personal experience, history, and the images surrounding us. Once isolated and preserved, however, those meanings become less certain.

The sculptures create a direct dialogue with the photographs. In one, the object exists inside a constructed narrative; in the other, it has been removed from that narrative and presented alone. Neither version explains the other. Instead, the relationship raises questions about context and interpretation. Does seeing the actual object bring us closer to understanding the photograph, or does removing it from its context make its meaning even more ambiguous?

The clear epoxy reinforces this contradiction. It allows us to see the object in extraordinary detail while preventing us from touching or using it. It acts simultaneously as a window and a barrier, preserving the object while separating it from lived experience.

Together, the photographs and sculptures examine how meaning is created through images, objects, and context. We recognize what we are looking at, but recognition does not necessarily tell us what it means. By presenting the same symbols in different forms, Simulacra asks how objects acquire meaning, how images transform that meaning, and how both can shape our understanding of contemporary reality.

Simulacrum I

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 9.3”w x 2.5”d x 12.7”h (23.6 cm w x 6.3 cm d x 32.3 cm h)

Materials: artificial red flower, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 1’

Simulacrum II

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 12.8”w x 2.6”d x 9.4”h

Materials: rotten red meat with maggots, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 2’

Simulacrum III

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 12.8”w x 3.3”d x 9.4”h

Materials: used black high-heel shoe, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 3’

Simulacrum IV

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 12.7”w x 4.5”d x 9.3”h

Materials: fake fruits (apples, banana, orange, pear, kiwi, strawberries, grapes) and dried up real fruits (cherries, plums), clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 4’

Simulacrum V

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 12.6”w x 2.2”d x 9.4”h

Materials: silicone breasts, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 5’

Simulacrum VI

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 12.7”w x 9.4”d x 10.5”h

Materials: champagne glass stem, flash bulb, condoms, bullets, pills (Viagra, etc), fake US banknote, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 6’

Simulacrum VII

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 9.6”w x 2.8”d x 13”h

Materials: shattered champagne glass, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 7’

Simulacrum VIII

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 12.3”w x 3.5”d x 19.2”h

Materials: white cotton hijab with fake blood, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 8’

Simulacrum IX

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 9.4”w x 2.4”d x 12.6”h (23.9 cm w x 6.1 cm d x 32 cm h)

Materials: used hammer, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 9’

Simulacrum X

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 9.8”w x 2.8”d x 12.7”h

Materials: partly burned bible, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 10’

Simulacrum XI

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 12.5”w x 2.5”d x 9.3”h

Materials: internal hard drive, keyboard, laptop cables, red roses petals, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 11’

Simulacrum XII

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 9.3”w x 2.6”d x 12.7”h (23.6 cm w x 6.6 cm d x 32.3 cm h)

Materials: broken wine bottle, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 12’

Simulacrum XIII

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 12.9”w x 2.5”d x 9.6”h (32.8 cm w x 6.4 cm d x 24.4 cm h)

Materials: laboratory vials with liquids (blood, fake blood, cranberry juice, urine, lemonade, oil, water, soy sauce, sperm, liquid soap), clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 13’

Simulacrum XIV

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 12.7”w x 2.5”d x 9.4”h

Materials: dried flowers, artificial flower, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 14’

Simulacrum XV

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 12.5”w x 9.4”d x 9”h

Materials: 3 bibles washed ashore in Oakland harbor, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 15’

Simulacrum XVI

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 12.7”w x 2.5”d x 9.4”h

Materials: abandoned pocket bible, bullet shells, US coins, dice, clear epoxy

Reference: see ‘Simulacrum 16’

Other

Simulacrum LI

Year: 2018

Dimensions: 9.5”w x 3.4”d x 12.8”h

Materials: fake flower with price tag, clear epoxy

Simulacrum LIII

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 12.6”w x 2.5”d x 9.3”h

Materials: broken mirror, clear epoxy

Simulacrum CI

Year: 2019

Dimensions: 6.3”w x 9.3”d x 24”h

Materials: copy of small statue by Beate Schiff (my aunt), dried kelp, clear epoxy

Simulacrum CII

Year: 2020

Dimensions: 6.5”w x 8.3”d x 3.5”h (closed) or 10”h (open)

Materials: offerings box from abandoned homeless encampment (skateboard wheels, Santa Claus statue, broken pottery, candle, old metal box), clear epoxy