Category Archives: Appearances

Beck’s Art Bottles

I am very happy to announce that I’ve been chosen as one of six artists in the first series of limited edition Art Bottles from Beck’s Beer in the U.S.

For those of you not familiar with the Art Bottle series, Beck’s has been featuring the work of contemporary artists on their bottles in the UK for the last 25 years. Some of the artists whose work have graced the green bottle include Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Tracey Emin.

This is the first year the Art Bottles will be appearing in the U.S., and the other artists featured are: M.I.A., Geoff McFetridge, Bert Rodriguez, Freegums, and Aerosyn-Lex. Needless to say, I’m extremely excited to be a part of this project and very proud to be representing Chicago.

The bottles will be in stores from May 7th through July 2012.

Midwestern Voices and Visions Exhibition 2011

I am one of seven artists included in the Midwestern Voices and Visions Exhibition, which opens today until October 29. The exhibit is curated by Elizabeth Chodos, and showcases the work of recipients of the Midwestern Voices and Visions Award, as presented by the Alliance of Artist Communities.

My work that’s included in the exhibit is a video piece titled Roller Coaster, which combines stop-motion animation and balloons. In many ways, the piece is a direct product of my time as a resident artist at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. It was there that I first began to experiment with play and animation in my creative process, and Roller Coaster brings a lot of those ideas together in a finished artwork.

The exhibit is held at the Chicago Artists’ Coalition Gallery, located at:

217 N. Carpenter St.
Chicago, IL

The opening reception is tonight from 6 – 8 pm, and is free and open to the public.

The normal gallery hours are:

Oct 7 – 29
Mon-Thurs, 10am – 5pm
Fridays, 9am – 1pm
Saturdays, 12 – 6pm
By appointment, 312.491.8888

An artist reception will be held on Friday, October 21, from 6:30 – 9:00 pm. It will be a chance for the public to meet the artists, and there will be live performances from Ibrahima Kaba, Linda Rodriguez, and May Lee-Yan. The event is also free and open to the public. I will be in attendance.

The Happiness Project

In collaboration with Artist Bloc, I will be showcasing a new piece in the Happiness Project exhibit, as part of Toronto’s Nuit Blanche. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Nuit Blanche, it’s an all night art festival that takes place in Toronto’s downtown core, starting at 6:59 pm on Saturday October 1st, and continuing until 7 am the next day.

The exhibit is based on the concept album of the same name by Charles Spearin (Broken Social Scene, Do Make Say Think), and will showcase the work of a number of Toronto artists. Each artwork is inspired by one of the songs of the album, and as visitors wander through the gallery space, they will be able to interact with the various installations while listening to the accompanying soundtrack. The song my piece is is based on is Ondine. 

Needless to say, I’m very excited to be a part of this project. If you’re around the area during Nuit Blanche, please stop by and say hi! For more information and a list of all participating artists, you can check out the project’s website or visit the official Nuit Blanche listing.

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The Happiness Project

Oz Studios
134 Ossington Avenue, Toronto ON
October 1, 2011  7 PM   – October 2, 2011 7 AM

It’s Nice That #4

My wok is featured in the latest issue of It’s Nice That! The issues also includes interviews with Miranda July, RGB6, amongst many others.

If you’re not already familiar with It’s Nice That, they are a London-based creative studio with a blog that features a lot of really creative designers and artists. I highly recommend checking them out.

Timelapse Video of Balloon Sculpture in Millennium Park!

My friend Sarra Jahedi has created an awesome time lapse video of the balluminescence team setting up the balloon sculpture in Millennium Park for Science Chicago’s LabFest! back on August 22. Check it out, and remember to rate/favorite it!

Sarra’s a filmmaker who also went to the University of Chicago. She directed a documentary about chess in Hyde Park, and created a web series called Drexel and Drexel. Currently, she’s working on a new web series called Pushing 23.

The music is by Mucca Pazza – they’re an awesome post-apocalyptic circus punk marching band from Chicago. If you like what you hear in the video, check them out. They play a lot of shows in the Chicago area and their live shows are always a load of fun.