Welcome to the Program 1994

1. This started as a crappy piece of hotel art, a seascape I think, that someone left at my frame shop in San Francisco. I thought he meant for me to throw it out or something, so when he came back looking for it I had to pretend I had no idea what had happened to it. I had, of course, already painted over it.

2. It was assembled in my tiny apartment on Bush St. out of gesso, vinyl adhesive letters, two kinds of beeswax (refined and unrefined) and many, many screw eyes. The substrate and liner was that crappy piece of hotel art. I put the ramen wood outer frame and dust cover on later at the frame shop on Sutter St.

3. The text should have read, "Because Now You Are Here," as a means, in one sentence fragment, of answering the five main question words: Why? (because) When? (now) Who? (you) What? (are) Where? (here) but I had applied the letters before I realized what I had (or hadn't) done. Oh well.

4. The finished piece showed in a number of places around San Francisco (Insomnia Gallery, Borders Books, Cafe Centro, Michael's Art Supply, etc.) and then in Los Angeles when I moved back there (Art Works Book Arts, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Sales and Rental Gallery, etc.) and then in St. Louis when, again, I relocated (Nancy Sachs Gallery, TAG Group Exhibitions, and, finally, at D-Zine Hair and Art Salon where it was purchased by business owner, Denise Edgar, and where it hangs to  this day - right above the seats and bowls where they wash your hair.)

5. This is the image that adorned the postcard for the show at D-Zine and now, every once in a while, I'll find one preserved at a friend's house. So, naturally, I imagine them decorating refrigerators around the globe, telling all nearby exactly when, who, what and where they are (but not why).