Kiln-formed glass, digital amphora design, screen printed glass powder

6.5" x 11" x 1"

2018

Using pottery shards for inspiration toward the search for a deeper connection to mythic stories for those on a broader sexual spectrum. Amphoras and fragments have always hinted toward a different society that embraced male beauty and celebrated varied sexual expressions. The shards of the past revealing glimmers of future possibilities and dangers. 

In this shard I showcase a contemporary sport like texting. The camaraderie is more private than the ancients in the gymnasium and alludes to a hidden world that is exclusive, accept when it is not.  

Kiln-formed glass, digital manipulation of original amphora design, screen printed glass powder

6" x 9" x 1"

2018

Using pottery shards for inspiration toward the search for a deeper connection to mythic stories for those on a broader sexual spectrum. Amphoras and fragments have always hinted toward a different society that embraced male beauty and celebrated varied sexual expressions. The shards of the past revealing glimmers of future possibilities and dangers. 

kiln-formed glass, screen-printed vitreous enamels,

plaster mesh, arrow mounts

96" x 21" x 12"

2013

Strata of Myth/Ode to El Greco

El Greco's painting of St. Sebastian has been pixelated and screen printed with vitreous enamels on glass.. The openings between the fused glass are filled with mesh tape and wall plaster. The sublime and mundane mixing of materials echoes an archeological dig unearthing ancient treasure and untold stories. The panels held and pierced by actual arrows allow light to pass through any of the gaps not filled with plaster. The shadows cast become an equal part of the work. Like my earliest experiences of the martyr, homo history is torturous as well as sexually charged. I'm interested in exploring mythic representations of the homosexual, St. Sebastian being one of our oldest, and understanding greater how art helps us embrace a richer and fuller expression of this type of love in our present world.

Photo Credit: Roberto Westbrook

digital photo decal, nylon screen, urethane, synthetic polymers, arrow mounts

37" x 24" x  10"

2016

Nicolas Régnier's, Saint Sebastian, 1623 is an excellent example of the vulnerable and erotisized martyr. I’ve taken photos of the original and reenacted the pose from the source work. Through the virtual contemporary lens of Instagram and its flood of web imagery, authorship is a snap away and the subtle variations recreated and seen through many eyes can be appropriated into infinite storylines. In our sexualized selfie culture, the Baroque paintings of Saint Sebastian start to look more like a pin-up than martyr.

Saint Sebastian / EVERLAST, 2016

Medium: kiln-formed and sandblasted glass, digital photo decals, 

urethane, copper tape, synthetic polymer, oak mounts

Special thanks to: Bob Ciminel, Clearlight Glass & Mirror, George Ellenburg, Jeff Harrison, Gregory Johnson, Patrick Mullins, Charlotte Potter, John Reid, Arthur Silver, and Dub Walston. 

Anthony van Dyck’s, Saint Sebastian, 1620 is an excellent example of the vulnerable and erotisized martyr. I’ve taken photos of the original and reenacted the source work with some of my friends. Through the virtual contemporary lens of Instagram and its flood of web imagery, authorship is a snap away and the subtle variations recreated and seen through many eyes can be appropriated into infinite storylines. In our sexualized selfie culture, the Baroque paintings of Saint Sebastian start to look more like a pin-up than martyr.

Saint Sebastian / Leather Room, 2016

Medium: kiln-formed and sandblasted glass, digital photo decals,

urethane, copper tape, synthetic polymer, oak mounts

Special thanks to: Bob Ciminel, Clearlight Glass & Mirror, George Ellenburg, Jeff Harrison, Gregory Johnson, Patrick Mullins, Charlotte Potter, John Reid, Arthur Silver, and Dub Walston. 

kiln-formed glass, vitreous enamel, synthetic polymers, with aluminum mount

36" x 36" x 2"

2014 

In the piece Romanesque(er), Valerie strikes an iconic stance of virile western masculinity with exaggerated hammer features reminiscent of a Greek or Roman god. The muscle man pose taken from the mythic realms and made famous by Sandow, Ferrigno, and Schwarzenegger is the height of maleness engulfed in vibrant pink. This color was used, along with a triangle, to denote homosexuals in Nazi German concentration camps during World War II and it was later repurposed as a reclaiming of power by queers in the beginnings of the Gay Liberation Movement of the 1960’s. In Romanesque(er), Valerie is asking what is masculine and homosexual today compared to the past?

kiln-formed glass, vitreous enamels, synthetic polymers,

reclaimed wood mount 

42"x32"x4" ea. 42"x100"x4" triptych

2014

fused glass painting with aluminum mount

36" x 24" x 2"

2014

kiln-formed glass, vitreous enamels, synthetic polymers mounted to the wall in a frame of rusted steel.

36" x 36" x 4"

2012

kiln-formed glass, vitreous enamel, synthetic polymers, vinyl decal on aluminum mount

36" x 36" x 2"

2015

kiln-formed glass, vitreous enamel, stainless mounts

7" x 5.5" x 1"

2015

kiln-formed glass, vitreous enamel, synthetic polymers, vinyl decal on aluminum mount

36" x 36" x 2"

2015