Simulacrum

The encased objects extend Simulacra into three dimensions, translating the logic of the photographic image into material form. Cast in clear epoxy, these objects are suspended in a state of arrested visibility. A plastic flower, a broken bottle, a hammer, a burned Bible: each is extracted from use, from context, and from time, preserved within a transparent block that promises access while enforcing distance.

Like the staged photographs, these objects operate within a simulacral condition. They are not relics in the traditional sense, nor are they documentary evidence. Instead, they function as hyperreal artifacts: objects that appear to stabilize meaning while simultaneously displacing it. Encapsulation does not clarify their significance; it severs referential continuity. The object remains legible, but its relation to lived experience is interrupted, rerouted through display and mediation.

Each encased form corresponds to an element within the photographic tableaux, establishing a doubled structure: one image staged, the other extracted and immobilized. Yet this relationship is not illustrative. Rather than confirming one another, the photograph and the object enter into a state of mutual questioning. Which holds authority: the constructed scene or the isolated fragment? Which is closer to the production of shared experience, and which to its preservation? Or are both equally implicated in its simulation?

In this exchange, referentiality is both invoked and withdrawn. We recognize what we see, but recognition no longer guarantees meaning. The objects, stripped of function and suspended in clarity, become surfaces for projection: sites where personal, cultural, and symbolic readings accumulate without resolution. The transparency of the epoxy suggests neutrality, even truth, yet it operates as a barrier as much as a window, reinforcing the distance between viewer and thing.

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