Tree-Sa

49 1/2" high x 24" wide x 14 1/2" deep - mixed media assemblage sculpture

About five years ago I noticed a large 3 ft. doll in the window of a Rite-Aid Store. It was being offered for $10 on an after-Xmas special sale. I couldn't resist. I bought the doll, not really knowing what I was going to do with her, and brought her to my studio. She was placed standing in a special area where she wouldn't get damaged and for all this time we've been staring at each other.

Finally, I had an urge to do something with her. I picked her up and brought her to a long table. She had an adorable dress on, shoes, pigtails with bows and eyes that opened and closed. I first undressed her, carefully saving her clothes for a future creation, and laid her down on my table. She looked human. She looked at me. I looked at her. Neither of us spoke.

Then I got a weird idea. I would open her up and put another sculpture within her abdominal area; like a fetus. I tried cutting through the plastic to no avail. This idea wouldn't work.

So, I stood her up, glued her joints so she was stationary, and began positioning different paper and scrap on her body to find something that "felt good" to me. Then I eyed some palm fronds which had also been sitting in my studio for a long time. I found these fronds in the street one day. Coming from Chicago where there are no palm trees, I didn't know what they were, but thought they were "interesting", so I added them to the rest of the "junk" in my studio. I tried these fronds against her, and it clicked. It looked good.

Now I knew I was going to make her into a tree. I glued the fronds all over her body, put leaves in her hair, glued a bird on her head and I was "in business". Now I will present her in my repertoire and hope a "savvy" collector falls in love with her the way I have.