Art On The Move 2011

Becoming a finalist for Art On The Move in 2009 opened up a whole new world for me. Before that event, I was an artist but I hadn’t defined myself. My art changed in style, media and even purpose. The image I selected for that entry was of a giraffe ducking to avoid a stoplight. It was that image merged with the placement of the art on a bus that brought focus and has been a driving force in my art since.

My art can be described as a mixture of street and interactive art. Though I have indoor exhibits, I prefer to create public art. The reasoning behind this choice is based on the fact that only ten percent of the population will visit a gallery or museum. By creating public art I can reach the other 90 percent.



Much of my art is interactive, allowing the viewer to interact with it in some way. This can be as simple as allowing the viewer to write on the work or as complex as forcing the viewer to make a choice or requesting that the viewer physically move and rearrange the art.

In this design, I incorporated one of my signature characters called a Zonkey. In life, the Zonkey is the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. In art, the zonkey represents the need for two (or more) people to interact and collaborate to create art.

Staying true to this idea, I wanted this design to be a collaboration of not only my work but the work of others. I asked my students at Apex High School to create the background. I gave them a map of Raleigh and asked then to find a street and write a sentence that incorporates the name of the street.

Some examples of their sentences include:

I want world Peace Street.
When I get nervous I Pace Street.
Baby you can drive my Carr Street.


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