Artist Statement
The two main intentions for this work are whimsy and confoundment. When viewers laugh in delight or scratch their heads in wonder, that’s when I know that my work is hitting home. With this piece, I seek to upend the idea of family as a human construct. If family bonds can exist in inanimate objects – in this case Southern California’s iconic “wacky men,” then bonds can be built across problematic chasms of clashing values, cultures, or heritage. I understand art as “an act of subversion that uses entertainment to instruct,” and choose to convey my own subversive medium with a touch of whimsy and confoundment.