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Before I went on my recent trip to Western Massachusetts, I alluded to being selected for an upcoming show that will be held from October 30-November 6. Now that the trip is over and I put the last finishing touches on what I will be showing there, I can write more about it.
It’s called Ofrenda and it’s an art exhibit that has a theme that’s based on the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday (which is usually held on November 1). You can learn more about the exhibition itself here. For this entry, I’m going to write about what I actually submitted to the show. Here’s my entry.
Oil: Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It
10 inches x 8 inches (26 cm x 21 cm) unframed
15 inches x 11 inches (38 cm x 28 cm) framed and matted
I was inspired by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year, which has had an adverse impact on both the seafood and tourist industries in that region. It also renewed new public demand for looking for alternatives to oil (such as solar and wind power). However, I’m old enough to remember the energy crisis of the 1970’s and there were similar demands for oil alternatives then but President Jimmy Carter’s attempt to formulate an alternative energy policy fell by the wayside when Ronald Reagan was elected and he pretty much cancelled such programs. Ever since then there have been incidents that resulted in public cries for a search for alternative energy sources only to be quickly forgotten until another oil-related incident renewed the same cries over again. It’s been going on for nearly 40 years.
I began to remember a tour I had taken a few years earlier. During a trip to visit my sister-in-law and her family in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the entire family went over to Easton, where the world headquarters of Crayola is located. Even though the actual factory itself is closed to the general public, Crayola has built a welcome center and store right in downtown Easton, which has smaller versions of the machines used to make Crayola products. During a demonstration of how a typical Crayola crayon is made, the tour guide mentioned how crayons are made from the same petroleum oil that’s used to power cars. I was shocked when I learned that fact.
Over the years I began to learn more about how oil has permeated into our day to day lives that goes beyond cars. Crayons are not the only art supplies that are derived from oil. Oil pastels, oil paints, and acrylic paints are derived either from oil or oil byproducts and they are frequently housed in plastic containers that are derived from–you’ve guessed it–oil byproducts. Many food and drink products are housed in plastic containers. In addition, many toys are made either from plastic or from vinyl–which are both oil byproducts.
So, for this Day of the Dead-themed exhibit, I decided to create this entry based on to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I obtained a few photos of that gulf spill and compiled them into a single background, brought it into Adobe Photoshop and posterized the background. For the foreground, I decided to take a photograph of the items that are all derived either from oil or oil byproducts.
The tall doll is a Volks Dollfie Dream, an Asian ball-jointed doll who can not only strike more realistic poses than–let’s say–Barbie, but the doll is also anatomically correct. I posed her in a way that is reminiscent of Renaissance-era art, including exposing a single breast. This doll is made out of vinyl, which is an oil byproduct. Her wig is made out of plastic strands (another oil byproduct). Her face and nipples were painted with acrylic paint–an oil byproduct. Her toga is made from a plastic shopping bag (another oil byproduct). A box of crayons lay at her feet, symbolizing another product made from oil.
Since the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday traditionally uses skeletons and skulls, I had to add them to the picture. All of the skeletons and skulls in this picture are made out of either plastic or vinyl. (Of course the location of the oil spill is also relevant since the Gulf of Mexico runs on Mexico’s east coast.)
Rounding out the picture are other items made from plastic or other oil byproducts including acrylic paint tubes, a pill bottle, and a soda bottle.
This particular picture is the centerpiece of my exhibit. Surrounding the picture will be 16 smaller canvases measuring 2.5 inches (6 cm) all around featuring Day of the Dead-inspired skulls. Keeping with the theme of how oil permeates our lives, each canvas has been painted with acrylic paint before I glued a skull made from Shrinky Dinks plastic on top of it with acrylic gel. Starting tomorrow I’ll post different skull canvavses to give you an idea of what the exhibit will look like.
Sagittarius Dolly 
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