“The Tree of Life” 2018, 24”x36”, archival ink jet print, sculptural tableux made by artist
“The Frolicking”, 2017, 24”x24”, archival ink jet print, sculptural tableux made by artist
“A Procession of Winged Creatures”, 2017, 24’x36”, archival ink jet print, sculptural tableux made by artist
"Mating Ritual", 2017, 24"x24', archival ink jet print, sculptural tableux made by artist
“A Gathering of Winged Creatures”, 2017, 24’x36”, archival ink jet print, sculptural tableaux made by artist
“A Hunt for Nectar” 2018, 24”x24”, archival ink jet print, sculptural tableaux made by artist
"The Worshiping”, 2018, 24’x36” archival ink jet print, sculptural tableau made by artist
“A Flight with Orbs”, 2017, 24”x24”, archival ink jet print, scuptural tableaux made by artist
“The Throne of Orbs”, 2018, 24’x36”, archival ink jet print, sculptural tableau made by artist, jet print
“The Shame of a Winged Creature”, 2018, 24”x24”, archival ink jet print, sculptural tableaux made by artist
“The Visitation” 2019, 24’x36”, archival ink jet print, scukptural tableau made by artist
“Elephantine Angels and A Precious Orb” 2019, 24”x24”, archival ink jet print, sculptural tableau made by artist
“Wings Trophy 1”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017.
“Wings Trophy 2”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
“Wings Trophy 3”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
“Wings Trophy 4”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
“Wings Trophy 5”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017.
“Wings Trophy 6”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
“Wings Trophy 7”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
“Wings Trophy 8”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
“Wings Trophy 9”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
“Wings Trophy 10”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
“Wings Trophy 11”, 12”x12”, archival ink jet print, 2017
"Wings Trophy Throne", 2018, 4’x30”x 30”, wood, wire mesh, royal icing, fondant, epoxy resin
"Wings Trophy Throne, detail ", 2018, 4’x30”x 30”, wood, wire mesh, royal icing, fondant, epoxy resin
The Futility of Flight follows a winged creature's transformation and subsequent attempts to fly. From the body of work, "A Decadent World, Night", stop motion animation, 2018
"The Floating Hope of the Winged Elephantine". The animation features winged elephants from Trachtenberg's photographs of an imaginary world and is based on the Myth of Sisyphus. The animation contemplates the frustration and beauty of the creative process. Coupled with the haunting and ethereal sounds of Peter Scartabello's Loxodonta, the piece becomes a visual and auditory litany of continuous perseverance. Stop motion animation from the series, "A Decadent World, Night", 2019.
A Decadent World Night Statement
I have dreams of flying.
Always as escape from an invisible predator. I run and run, the footsteps of my pursuant pounding behind me, and I find myself rising higher and higher above the ground, the trees, and rooftops until I am free.
I am left with my heart pounding and the weightless sensation of flight.
In "A Decadent World, Night" I contemplate winged creatures as beings that have the power of flight and a history rooted in religious symbolism.
I imagine that I am an explorer, akin to a turn of the 20th century conservationist visiting an unknown, unexplored place to discover the existence of strange and beautiful winged creatures. I observe, document, hunt, and preserve them.
Capturing these winged creatures was not easy for they only appear at night. I have been fortunate to have captured some and turned their wings, symbols of religious and spiritual power into trophies for décor and testament to humanity’s power over nature. When I found myself too spent to hunt, I captured them with my camera and was quite fortunate to have captured a winged creature becoming feathered and taking flight for the first time. I, as the hunter, scientist, and explorer consume nature for my intellectual curiosity, sustenance, power, and aesthetic experiences as well as to enlighten my fellow humans.
In this work I have become the predator of my dreams.
In A Decadent World Night, I explore the power hierarchy between animals and humans through the lens of the early conservationist movement in the early part of the 20th century. In this series, I position myself as the creator of, and the explorer/hunter into this imaginary world. As the early conservationists did, I hunt my subjects via trophy hunting and photographic hunting bringing my viewers animal bodies as trophies and photographs as scientific evidence of a place that only exists in my imagination.