November 1986, Herbert Sanders Gallery, San Jose, CA
19’5” wide x 19’8” deep x 10’ tall
Fused glass, wood, brick, sand, fabric, light, sound.

Dining In contrasts mankind’s appreciation of nature’s beauty with the wanton disregard for environmental concern. Human beings both love and relentlessly destroy nature through endless consumption, as represented in the exotic animal patterns of the dinner plates, and the specter of nature itself peering in from a decimated wilderness.  Some of the background sounds are disturbing to hear, sounds rise and fall, never loud, but always alarming. A baby’s cry, a bell tolling, gale winds whipping outside, an eerie silence… then there’s the skeletal specter watching whoever enters. By contrast, the medium of glass is a beautiful medium for the plates, the Zebra, Leopard, Tiger, Serval, Elephant, and Giraffe skins are exotic and speak of wealth and privilege. For a moment, the plates draw the viewers into their magnetic pull, inspirations of nature to covet. But then the hunting knife – the sole eating implement, the desolate space, the haunting sounds challenge their political positions in regard to the environment. Indeed, this work reflects my own questions, hypocrisy, and concerns as a human being in a fragile world, yet a being so minor compared to the power of nature.

Note regarding the approach to photographic rendering: Rather than presenting interesting photos as art pieces themselves, these images were processed with intention of capturing, as close as possible, the lighting the viewers would have experienced, but is still a far cry from actuality.