Vagtastic!

My solo show at Kresge Art Center opened up last week. Above is a video walk through of the gallery installation, and below I have some screen shots from the three videos I showed, as well as some other images.



Above is a screen shot from the video Abstract Music Video, #1. To create this video, I filmed myself in front of a green screen, applied a mirroring effect using Adobe After Effects, edited out the screen and layered it on top of a found piece of video, in a fashion reminiscent of collage.




In the film, the deer head used is a real taxidermy buck head; I hollowed it out, riveted leather straps with a buckle to it, and strapped it onto my face. My goal was to create an androgynous being that possessed all qualities of 'gender', to illustrate freedom from social constraint and unrestrained expression, whether it be artistic or personal.

Within the video is a transition from a colorful world to a colorless one. Meant as a reflection of the coming out process, this particular video combines celebration with premonition as the video shifts between artificial constructs and the underlying, gritty, reality.

The piece featuring the mermaid is the one displayed inside the fish tank. Its a comment on stereotypes but also the disparity between reality and fictitious constructions.


Drunken butch mermaids are hilarious in the worst way.

The final piece I included in the show, Origin of the World II, deals with representation, the inconsistencies between public/private life, and the concept of ownership over image and bodies in art and representation.




Warning: it is NOT a real eye.

Here are some more photos from the show:

Blue jean mermaid tail, made out of two pairs of jeans sewn together.

Taxidermy deer head piece.



Above is the artist bio that I painted on the wall adjacent to the doors.



At the opening of the show, I served only hot dogs to create an audience interactive performance piece demonstrating the destruction of phallic icons. In total, 68 hot dogs were consumed/lost their lives.

To end this post I would like to share some sketches/character art I did in preparation of filming.


The butch mermaid is still funny.
Thanks for reading! Check in soon for another update.

Summer Lovin'

Hello all! Its been a long hot summer, but I have a few things to share with you;
above is the flier for my solo show in October. I decided to, tentatively, call the show "Vagtastic", since it is a word that might adequately describe the work in the show. I created the flier in Illustrator; I like the ad so much I might have difficulty changing the name.

The illustration above was for my original advertisement, when I was going to call the show "give hed to survive". I've since expanded it into a larger project with more frames; this is just a taste of the action.
This image, above, is a first look at the 'rainbow conversion machine' I've been working on this summer. I was thinking about prisms, so I created a form that looks vaginal and converts 'White Light/Power' into a...rainbow. The piece is about four and a half feet high.

This lovely lady, above, started out as the delightful sketch below. I've been trying to brush up on my computer skills, so I used both Illustrator and Photoshop to tweak the line work and colorize the image. The breast-sack turned out great!

The final thing I would like to share is a video I made in Flash, utilizing a collage similar to the 'give hed' one above. Its amateur, but I learned a lot from my experience. Enjoy!

p.s., This video has only 12 views and already one dislike! It's hard to say what they could have disliked about it............j/k

Thanks for reading!

End Of Graduate School - Year 1

Welcome all!


Well, it's been a long crazy year. Time for updates!
The two above paintings we made in the first half of the semester. The above painting (Gender Coercion) was exhibited at Art Alley Gallery in Lansing during late February. Also exhibited was my BFA series Calendar Girls, as well as the work of Deborah Wheeler. Photos of Calendar Girls are available at my website www.carbonmade.rebekahzurenko.com, and photos of the exhibition are available on my facebook page. Check it out, it looks pretty awesome.

These two photos/photo collages are from an elaborate photo shoot that took place this semester. The below photo features the Dyke suit that I created out of a repurposed cover all and a bedazzler. Bedazzling is much more labor intensive than the commercial makes it appear. This is the Dykon, an elaboration of an earlier designed character. Dykon = dyke + icon, and yes, they are a superhero/ine. This character is also featured in the short film I hope to upload below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZEvYHiqUwc

Well, there's the link anyway.

Finally, these two images are of my most recent painting, one I've been referring to as the "vag painting". It technically belongs to what I hope will become my Orifice series.

Thanks for checking it out! Summer starts soon and I should have a ton more work to post!

Public Installation

Hello again!
These photos and video are from a public installation. The figures are wood cut outs and were installed in front of the Kresge Art Museum before a "Private Art Event".
Enjoy!



This clip is surveillance footage from the event:

Thanks for viewing! I should have more stuff in a few days, enjoy!

MEGAPOST

Hello all: this is a MEGAPOST. I haven't updated in a LOOOOONG time, so here is an absolute deluge of projects I've been working on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pYFGjkaBO0

Check it out on my youtube account. This is a video completed for my graduate Seminar class last semester. It explores issues of textualterity and sexuality. CHECK IT OUT!

Here are some images of recent works as well:












One more, a realization of an earlier sketch:

Another update soon!
Thnx