About Eric Millikin, conceptual activist new media artist in Detroit, exploring the boundaries of art, science, and the occult. Includes biography, exhibitions, and bibliography.
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Séance Affliction: Self-Portraits while Possessed by Ghosts
You may have heard of science fiction, but I am cursed with a Séance Affliction.
I am a descendent of Mary Eastey, one of the women killed during the Salem Witch Trials, and I create a series of "Séance Afflicition" self-portraits while possessed by ghosts as a reminder of how strongly the dead still influence the living. Each portrait is created in a trance-like state, with the help of a team of zombie computers, using machine learning, convolutional neural networks, reverse image recognition, DeepDreaming, and other home brew occult computer sciences. Each portrait shows roughly half of my face, half of the ghost of a dead historical figure, in the style of a dead artist, created on the anniversary of their death.
The good news is now when someone asks you what your favorite artistic medium is, you can say "Eric Millikin is my favorite artistic medium."
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Sharon Tate and Vito Acconci"
2018
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Sylvia Plath and Mike Kelley"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Jim Henson and Mark Rothko"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of El Santo and Louise Nevelson"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Zsa Zsa Gabor and H. R. Giger"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Ingrid Bergman and Jack Kirby
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Lucille Ball and Andy Warhol"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Marcel Duchamp
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Gustav Klimt and Ginger Rogers
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Benazir Bhutto and Henry Ossawa Tanner"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Tupac Shakur and M. C. Escher"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Judy Garland and Gustave Courbet"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Prince Rogers Nelson and Paul Gauguin"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Josephine Baker and Franz Kline"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Marilyn Monroe and Henri Rousseau"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Biggie Smalls and Mary Cassatt"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of George Carlin and Joseph Beuys"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Chang and Eng Bunker and Salvador Dalí"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Audrey Hepburn and Keith Haring"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of William Shakespeare and Yves Klein"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Vladimir Lenin and Salvador Dali"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Jayne Mansfield and Vincent van Gogh"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Leonardo da Vinci"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Vincent van Gogh"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Harry Houdini and Vincent van Gogh: Iris"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Joan Crawford and Vincent van Gogh"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Harry Houdini and Vincent van Gogh"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Salvador Dalí"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Albert Einstein and Piet Mondrian"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of Piet Mondrian and Tammy Faye Bakker"
2017
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghosts of "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Painter Georgia O'Keefe"
2016
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Remedios Varo"
2016
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Roy Lichtenstein"
2016
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Frieda Kahlo"
2016
My "Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Frida Kahlo" was included in the CHASING GHOSTS Exhibition at the Verum Ultimum Art Gallery in Portland Oregon, and in the DAMNED Art Show at the Tangent Gallery in Detroit, Michigan.
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Marcel Duchamp"
2016
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Claude Monet"
2016
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Salvador Dali"
2016
"Séance Affliction: Self-Portrait While Possessed by the Ghost of Jackson Pollock"
2016
Danger Beasts
Danger beasts is a series of portraits of endangered animals created with endangered plants. The plants I am using are from my venus flytrap breeding program and tissue culture lab.
"Danger Beast: Koko"
2017
I am pleased to introduce you to my portrait of "Koko," the 46-year-old female western lowland gorilla who has learned about 1,000 sign-language hand signs.
"Danger Beast: Lucy"
2017
I am pleased to introduce you my portrait of "Lucy," the 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis whose 40% complete fossilized skeletal remains were discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia in 1974. Lucy was nicknamed the night she was discovered while the excavation team celebrated to the Beatles’ hit “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
"Danger Beast: Baha"
2017
Sumatran tigers are critically endangered, with fewer than 500 believed to exist in the wild. In the past century, four of nine tiger subspecies have gone extinct in their natural habitats. Baha successfully raised five tiger cubs while at the Sacramento Zoo before she died in February 2016 after a fight with another tiger, Mohan, a potential mate.
Big thanks to Canvas Pontiac and the Detroit Institute of Arts for helping me take my "Danger Beasts" to new heights.
"Danger Beast: Baha" won first place.
"Danger Beast: The Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey"
2016
"Danger Beast: Kimie"
2016
Kimie was one of the first rescued chimpanzees we collaborated with in creating artwork for Monkey Day. She died in 2011.
"Danger Beast: Harambe"
2016
Buy a print of "Danger Beast: Harambe"
Portrait of Harambe, the endangered gorilla shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo, made out of endangered Venus flytraps. This was shown at the Studio Door gallery in San Diego, with a portion of proceeds going to the San Diego Zoo for wildlife conservation.
"Danger Beast: Golden Lion Tamarin"
2016
"Danger Beast: Zahara"
2016
Public art installation in Royal Oak, MI.
Awesome Editorial Artwork
A collection of editorial artwork that I have created.
Portrait of sports journalist Jemele Hill.
Those of you who have been following me since art school may recall that Jemele was in journalism school at the same time and we were able to work on cool things together, and we criss-crossed paths doing some things with major media orgs in Detroit, and everything was always good times. She once referred to me as "the baddest white boy on the planet," which is one of the very highest honors I have ever received and should tell everyone that her opinions and analysis will always be pretty much 110% trustworthy.
Here's my fist raised in support and solidarity with you and all the working people of the world as we head into Labor Day Weekend here in the US, and on today the 110th birthday of UAW leader Walter Reuther (Sept. 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970). My artwork here is based in part on the engines of the 1919 Ford Model T and the 1937 Ford Pickup Truck. Man, and I don't even like Ford vehicles. So, why? Here's why:
Why a 1937 Ford Pickup? 1937 is the year Henry Ford's private security forces tried to bust up the UAW and attacked workers at the "Battle of the Overpass." UAW members that were attacked included Walter Reuther who was picked up and slammed on the concrete at least seven times. The Detroit News described how police stood by as people were beaten: "A lone police officer, appalled at the scene, pleaded with the 'service' men to stop beating one woman: 'You'll kill her...' The Dearborn police did nothing else. They stood by and said the Ford men were protecting their private property." The brutal attack helped turn public opinion against the way Ford treated working people.
Why a 1919 Ford Model T? 1919 is the year Henry Ford bought "The Dearborn Independent" newspaper, which he used for about a decade to publish Nazi-inspiring Anti-Semitic articles like "The Scope of Jewish Dictatorship in the U.S.," "The Jewish Element in Bootlegging Evil," "Jewish Degradation of American Baseball," and "Jewish Jazz Becomes Our National Music." This lead to Henry Ford being the only American mentioned in Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf," where Hitler wrote: "Every year makes them [American Jews] more and more the controlling masters ... [In the U.S.] only a single great man, Ford, to their fury still maintains full independence." At the Nuremberg trial for war crimes, one Nazi leader stated how Ford's writings inspired them: "I read it and became anti-Semitic. [It] made such a deep impression on my friends and myself because we saw in Henry Ford the representative of success ..."
So, yeah, this is for those of us who, today, still haven't given up the fight against wealthy business leaders who want to treat working people like punching bags, for those of us who still haven't given up the fight against Nazis and racists within and supported by the highest levels of power, and for those of us who still haven't given up the fight against those of our police who too often at best stand by just watching the brutality ...
This is me raising my fist with you, because, together, we will change this.
2017
I made this landscape painting where the soaring mountain peaks correspond to the soaring peaks of Donald Trump's sky-high 61% disapproval rating.
(Poll numbers from Dr. Brian Klaas and Gallup polls. Landscape based on John Mix Stanley's "Western Landscape" circa 1848, at the Detroit Institute of Arts.)
2017
Portrait of our President of the United States of America, powered by crowds of white supremacists, carrying torches for him.
(This artwork is probably technically an unfinished work in progress, but so is our fight against racism in America since about 1492.)
2017
I hear some people have negative things to say about Donald Trump and his tweets, but I think Donald Trump and his tweets are beautiful things, like newborn baby birds in their nests.
Like blind naked helpless babies, tweeting, tweeting, incessantly tweeting, starving for attention, too powerless and weak to actually do anything. Just beautiful things, like baby birds in their nests.
2017
Portrait of Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, based on the melted weapons of her enemies she has defeated, in a style similar to the Iron Throne her father once sat upon.
2017
Portrait of the human mind made from melted bullets. Thinking about a lot of things while working on this, mostly what great things we could do if we used our brains more and our bullets less.
2017
Made of Money
My series to remind us that our best people aren't always rewarded with wealth, and that our wealthiest people aren't always our best.
"Made of Money: Edgar Allan Poe"
2017
"Made of Money: Joe Louis"
2017
"Made of Money: Hedy Lamarr"
2017
"Made of Money: Vincent Van Gogh"
2017
"Made of Money: Nikola Tesla"
2017
My 2017 ArtPrize entry featuring five "Made of Money" portraits. ArtPrize is "an open, independently organized international art competition which takes place for 19 days each fall in Grand Rapids, Michigan." ArtPrize was created by billionaire Rick DeVos, who has contributed to many conservative political causes.
The New York Times covered my "Made of Money" artwork:
“Any artwork put into ArtPrize is going to be about ArtPrize, the DeVoses and Trump,” said Eric Millikin, an artist in Detroit whose entry, “Made of Money,” used a weave of actual dollar bills and digital manipulation to produce portraits of accomplished people who died poor. “I’ve always been conflicted about participating because of the DeVoses, but this year with Betsy DeVos in the federal government, it was a conflict I had to address.”
Full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/arts/design/artprize-michigan-betsy-devos-donald-trump.html
This was installed in the PO (Art)Box, curated by Sierra Cole. It also included artwork by Firth MacMillan, Barbara Lash, Denise Ardis, John Whipple, Lynn Whipple, Ed Brownlee, Jonathan D. Lopez, Howard Sheltraw and Sierra Cole.
Hottest Trending Self-Portraits
Series of self-portraits as "most popular fictional character, in a style inspired by the most popular artist, with most popular quote by most popular human being."
"Self-Portrait as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, with quote from a Taylor Swift song, in the colors of a hurricane weather map"
2017
September 2017
This data-driven self-portrait is based on my meticulous study into the most popular internet research trends, news consumption, music sales, airplay, and movie box office revenue of two weeks in September, and the results pretty much perfectly capture September 2017.
March 2016:
Self-Portrait as The Punisher, with quote from Donald Trump, in the style of the Unfinished portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
February 2016:
Self-Portrait as Marvel Comics' Negasonic Teenage Warhead, in a style inspired by the chimpanzee artist Pierre Brassau who fooled art critics, with quote by Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
January 2016:
Self-Portrait as Deadpool, in a style inspired by Indian painter Amrita Sher-Gil, with quote from David Bowie.
December 2015:
Self-Portrait as Superman villain Doomsday, in a style inspired by performance artist Yoko Ono, with quote from Solomon Northup, author of 'Twelve Years a Slave.'
March 2015:
Self Portrait as Marvel Comics The Vision, in a style inspired by English botanist and photographer Anna Atkins, with a quote by award-winning-award-show-interrupter Kanye West.
January 2015:
Self-portrait as Marvel Comics Ant-Man, in a style inspired by "Big Eyes" painter Margaret Keane, with quote by 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle.
Witch Hunt
I am a descendant of Salem Witches; my great-grandmother about 13 generations back, Mary Eastey, was executed Sept. 22, 1692 and her sister Rebecca Nurse was executed July 19, 1692. Their mother, Joanna Blessing Towne, had been accused of witchcraft years earlier.
For this year's 325th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, I've created Salem Witch-related artwork, based on flowers and leaves of the following plants: The "Bog Witch" Sarracenia pitcher plant, the "Witch's Wand" Iris, the "Green Wizard" Venus Flytrap, and the "Bewitching Eyes" and "Salem Witch" Hemerocallis.
I AM HERE TO HELP Donald Trump understand what a Witch Hunt actually is.
Lock
2017
1) "Lock" as in "Warlock," a male witch. Prior to these five executed witches, six others had already been executed; all six were women. The five executed on this date were one woman (Martha Carrier) and four men (George Burroughs, George Jacobs Sr., John Proctor, and John Willard). John Willard was a law enforcement officer who brought many of the other accused to court. George Burroughs was a minister, who recited the Lord's Prayer while standing at the gallows waiting to die. John Proctor's wife Elizabeth was also among the accused. What do you do when law enforcement, ministers, and husbands of accused witches dare question the court system? Accuse them of being warlocks, and execute them, too.
2) "Lock" as in "Locked Away." Most of the focus of Salem Witch Trial history is on the 19 people who were executed by hanging, and one tortured to death. Sources say about 150 other accused witches were locked away in jail. The youngest, four-year-old Dorcas Good, was jailed for almost nine months, from March 24, 1692, to Dec. 10, 1692. At least four of the accused (Sarah Osbourn, Roger Toothaker, Ann Foster, and Lydia Dustin) died in prison.
3) "Lock" as in "Lock her up!" If you're in a top position of power, like say President of the United States, and you've ever lead an angry mob chanting "Lock her up!" then you're probably not the victim in the "Witch Hunt" metaphor.
Salem Witch riding on her broom stick.
2017
"18 July 1692. Ann Foster ... confesed that the devill in shape of a [black] man apeared to her ... she promised to serve the divill two yeares: upon w'ch the Divill promised her prosperity ... she & martha Carier did both ride on a stick or pole when they went to the witch meeting at Salem Village ..."
Ann Foster, after days of torture, confessed to witchcraft in an attempt to save her daughter and granddaughter who were also accused. She died in Salem jail in Dec. 1692.
Large-scale outdoor installation in Salem, Massachusetts of the Salem witch riding her broomstick; July 19, 2017
In Salem, Massachusetts, at the memorial for Rebecca Towne Nurse, my great aunt from about 13 generations back, who was executed for witchcraft 325 years ago; July 19, 2017
Black Cat
2017
"Aug. the 11th, 1692 ... [seven-year-old accused witch Sarah Carrier] said her mother [Martha Carrier] carried her thither to afflict. Q. How did your mother carry you when she was in prison? A. She came like a black cat. Q. How did you know that it was your mother? A. The cat told me so that she was my mother."
Based in part on this confession and testimony by her seven-year-old daughter, Martha Carrier was executed August 19, 1692.
Outdoor installation of the Black Cat; July 17, 2017
Salem Witch
2017
BLACKWORDS: Great Words of Black History
Portraits of historical figures using their own words.
"John Lewis: Good Trouble"
2017
"Good Trouble," all-action portrait of John Lewis. For the last few years I've been drawing portraits of great black leaders entirely with their own words from their great speeches. I wanted to draw a portrait of John Lewis for this series, and while Lewis has given some great speeches, he's also been arrested at least 45 times for getting into "good trouble" in the nonviolent struggle for justice, from sit-ins at segregated lunch counters to Freedom Riders to protests against apartheid and genocide in Darfur. And then some fool went and called John Lewis "all talk," and so I made this portrait to honor John Lewis for having the courage to step up when necessary and being pretty much "all action."
"Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream" billboard
2017
Portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made entirely from the words to his "I Have A Dream" speech, 30 feet wide and 10 feet high, LED.
Metro Detroit at roughly 4539 S Telegraph Rd, headed North, between I-94 and Michigan Ave.
January 12 - January 19, 2017
"Barack Obama: Hope Over Fear"
2016
"Hope Over Fear" portrait of Barack Obama created using the words to his first inaugural address.
"Michelle Obama: American Dream"
2106
"American Dream" portrait of Michelle Obama created from the words to her speech at City College of New York, her last commencement address as First Lady of the United States.
"When they go low, we go high." - Michelle Obama
Here's my earlier "American Dream" portrait of Michelle Obama, which will be auctioned Aug. 6 in Washington DC by the National Association of Black Journalists to raise money for scholarships.
"Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary"
2015
"Any Means Necessary" portrait of Malcolm X.
"Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream"
2015
"I Have a Dream" portrait of Martin Luther King Jr.
"Harriet Tubman: Bound for the Promised Land"
2016
Portrait of Harriet Tubman created from the words to the song "Bound for the Promised Land," a version of which she sang as a code while escaping and rescuing other enslaved people along the Underground Railroad.
"Frederick Douglass: The Hypocrisy of American Slavery"
2016
Portrait of Frederick Douglass created from the words to his "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery" speech.
"Sojourner Truth: And Ain't I a Woman"
2015
Portrait of Sojourner Truth drawn from the words to her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech.
"Ruby Bridges: Racism Has No Place"
2016
Portrait of Ruby Bridges, who was the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana during the 20th century, when she was escorted to school by U.S. Marshalls on Nov. 14, 1960.
Words here are from her quote "My message is really that racism has no place in the hearts and minds of our children," as well as the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, which declared "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
"Viola Liuzzo: Change the World"
2016
Portrait of civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo using the words she had told a friend, "You and I are going to change the world," and from her FBI files, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Viola traveled from her home in Detroit, Michigan to Selma, Alabama to assist and participate in the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches. Afterward, she was shot dead by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
One of my "Viola Liuzzo: Change the World" portraits was auctioned to raise money for Global Ties Detroit, the Detroit non-profit arm of the Department of State, dedicated to world-wide diplomacy.
"Muhammad Ali: Sting Like a Bee"
2016
"Sting Like A Bee" portrait of Muhammad Ali, drawn from the some of his greatest words. Like:
"I done wrassled with an alligator
I done tussled with a whale
I done handcuffed lightnin',
Throwed thunder in jail ...
Only last week I murdered a rock,
Injured a stone,
Hospitalized a brick.
I'm so mean I make medicine sick ..."
"Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze"
2015
"Purple Haze" portrait of Jimi Hendrix.
"Miles Davis: Miles Ahead"
2016
Portrait of Miles Davis created from the titles of his songs.
“It's not about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating they have to be about change.”
“Do not fear mistakes. There are none. ”
“When you’re creating your own shit, man, even the sky ain’t the limit.”
"Miles Ahead" is the title of his 1957 album.
"Prince: Purple Rain"
2015
Portrait of Prince created with lyrics from the song "Purple Rain."
Street Portraits
Drawn in one continuous line
"Street Portrait: Jordan Edwards"
2017
Portrait of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, drawn in one continuous line through the streets around Dallas, starting in the suburb of Balch Springs where police fired three rifle rounds into the car Edwards was riding in while it was driving away, shooting Edwards in the head and killing him on April 29, 2017.
"Street Portrait: Aiyana Stanley-Jones"
2017
Portrait of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Detroit, starting from where she was asleep on the couch after midnight May 16, 2010, and shot in the head during a no-knock SWAT raid being filmed for a reality TV show, over across town to the church where her funeral was held, to the cemetery where her body is buried, and to the court house where two trials for involuntary manslaughter both ended in mistrials.
At the Michigan Fine Arts Competition exhibition, people are following the key points of my "Street Portraits: Philando Castile, Jordan Edwards, and Aiyana Jones," each drawn in one continuous line through the streets around St. Paul, Dallas and Detroit where they were killed.
"Street Portrait: Renisha McBride"
2016
Portrait of Renisha McBride, drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Dearborn Heights west of Detroit, starting from where she crashed her car into a parked vehicle, over to where she knocked on someone's door asking for help, but the homeowner thought she might be trying to break in so he shot her in the face and killed her on November 3, 2013.
"Street Portrait: Terence Crutcher"
2016
Portrait of Terence Crutcher drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma, starting from Tulsa Community College where he was studying music appreciation, over across Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, and ending where his car broke down and he was shot and killed in the street, September 16, 2016.
"Street Portrait: Tamir Rice"
2015
Portrait of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Cleveland, through the spot where he was shot by police while playing with a toy gun in a park near his home, past where he died in the hospital, past about a half dozen cemeteries where he wasn't buried for 6 months because the medical examiner still had his body, and past the homes of many of the taxpayers who will pay the $6 million wrongful death settlement.
"Street Portrait: Michael Brown"
2015
Portrait of Michael Brown drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, starting from the high school he had recently graduated from, over to where he stole some smokes from a convenience store, down the street to where a police officer first thought unarmed Michael Brown "looks like a demon," then down that street where the officer hit Brown with about 6 of about 12 shots he fired, to where Michael Brown died in that street.
"Street Portrait: Philando Castile"
2016
Portrait of Philando Castile drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Falcon Heights, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul, starting from where he was shot and killed during a traffic stop.
"Street Portrait: Eric Garner"
2015
Portrait of Eric Garner, drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Staten Island, New York, starting from the point where he was put in a choke hold, where he repeated "I can't breathe" eleven times, past the hospital where he was pronounced dead an hour later, and past the homes of many of the taxpayers who will pay the $5.9 million wrongful death settlement.
"Street Portrait: Sandra Bland"
2015
Portrait of Sandra Bland, drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Waller County, Texas, starting outside her new job at Prairie View A&M University, down University Drive where she was pulled over for failure to signal a lane change on July 10, across underneath Plantation Lake, and ending at Waller County Jail, where she was held alone in a cell, and where she died three days after being stopped over a turn signal, her death classified as a suicide.
"Street Portrait: Samuel DuBose"
2015
Portrait of Samuel DuBose, drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Cincinnati, starting from where he was stopped for driving without a front license plate, up Liberty St., up Freeman Ave, up Dr Martin Luther King Dr., to the Church of the Living God where they held his funeral because the police officer shot Samuel DuBose in the head.
"Street Portrait: Freddie Gray"
2015
Portrait of Freddie Gray, drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Baltimore, through the spots where he was stopped, put in a police van, and where he died, just a couple blocks away from MLK Blvd.
"Street Portrait: Alton Sterling"
2016
Portrait of Alton Sterling drawn in one continuous line through the streets of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, starting from the parking lot of Triple S Food Mart where he was fatally shot, through the streets where hundreds have protested, up Interstate 110, through the Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway.
United Statements
"United Statements: Lori Piestewa"
2017
Portrait with stars and stripes of Lori Piestewa (Dec. 14 1979 — March 23, 2003), the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the US military.
Piestewa was killed in action after coming under fire in an ambush in Nasiriyah, Iraq. She is survived by her son who was 4-years-old at the time of her death, her daughter who was 3-years-old at the time of her death, her mother who is Mexican-American, and her father who is a member of the Hopi tribe and who served in the Vietnam War. One of her grandfathers served in World War II. Lori Piestewa was awarded the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War Medal, and posthumously promoted from Private First Class to the rank of Specialist.
According to the Army, Native Americans have served in the Army in every war in America's history, as well as during peacetime. 25 Native Americans have received the nation's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor.
"United Statements: American Woman"
2017
Portrait with stars and stripes.
No hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.
"United Statements: American Woman" is going to be exhibited during Dubai Art Week on March 12-18, 2017 at the A4 Gallery in Al Serkal Arts District, in a show organized by Zayed University, under the patronage of Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi.
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi is the United Arab Emirates' Minister of State for Tolerance, was previously the Minister of State for International Cooperation, and is listed as the 43rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
"United Statements: American Women"
2017
Painted during the Women's Marches weekend.
"United Statements: Fight"
2017
"Fight." For every American who believes in fighting for what is right, even when we're not sure which way is up, even when we've got to fight in multiple directions, we've got this if we fight together, "Fight."
Butterfly Effects 2017
Tribute portraits made of butterflies.
In chaos theory, "the butterfly effect" holds that the flapping of the wings of a distant butterfly can change the outcome of a hurricane. If a butterfly can affect a hurricane, then imagine how great of an effect the life these people can have on the world, or that you or I can.
Chris Cornell (July 20, 1964 – May 17, 2017)
Don Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017)
Chuck Berry (Oct. 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017)
Skip Williamson (Aug. 19, 1944 - March 16, 2017)
George "The Animal" Steele (April 16, 1937 – Feb. 16, 2017)
Mary Tyler Moore (Dec. 29, 1936 – Jan. 25, 2017)
Butterfly Effects
Tribute portraits made of butterflies.
In chaos theory, "the butterfly effect" holds that the flapping of the wings of a distant butterfly can change the outcome of a hurricane. If a butterfly can affect a hurricane, then imagine how great of an effect the life these people can have on the world, or that you or I can.
Debbie Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – Dec. 28, 2016)
Carrie Fisher (Oct. 21, 1956 – Dec. 27, 2016)
George Michael (June 25, 1963 – Dec. 25, 2016)
Zsa Zsa Gabor (Feb. 6, 1917 – Dec. 18, 2016)
John Glenn (July 18, 1921 – Dec. 8, 2016)
Fidel Castro (Aug. 13, 1926 – Nov. 25, 2016)
Leonard Cohen (Sept. 21, 1934 – Nov. 7, 2016)
Gene Wilder (June 11, 1933 – Aug. 29, 2016)
Muhammad Ali (Jan. 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)
David Bowie (Jan. 8, 1947 - Jan. 10, 2016)
Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016)
Buy a print of "Butterfly Effect: Prince"
Alan Rickman (Feb. 21, 1946 - Jan. 14, 2016)
B.B. King (Sept. 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015)
Natalie Cole (Feb. 6, 1950 – Dec. 31, 2015)
Mail art project I did with the Long Island Arts Alliance, shortly after the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris.
Forgotten Atmospheres
Series of data-driven abstract art about people who are too often forgotten.
"Forgotten Atmosphere: Ajax"
2016
Think of the largest area of this painting as the almost 8,035 veterans who die from suicide each year. That is 12 times the combined number who died each year in the wars in Iraq (513, the thick line at bottom) and Afghanistan (171, the thin line at bottom). That is about 22 per day.
If you spend about an hour thinking about this, in that time another veteran will have died from suicide.
A veteran is more than twice as likely to die from suicide than a member of the general population.
"Forgotten Atmosphere: Thisbe"
2016
This is a painting about people who were shot and killed, and too often forgotten.
Think of the entire area of this painting as a year's worth of people killed by guns in the US. The smallish yellowish area, about a third of the painting toward the bottom, are the people killed in gun homicides, including the mass shootings, terrorist attacks and police shootings that seem to dominate our conversations. The thin yellowish line at the bottom is roughly the number of people killed by accident with a gun. All of these are tragedies.
But the largest area at the top, about 2/3s of the painting, is the roughly 2/3s of all gun deaths which are suicides. If we truly believe that "All Lives Matter," we would probably spend twice as much time talking about gun suicides as we do homicides.
If you spend just 25 minutes looking at this painting and thinking about this today, in that time someone in the US will have shot and killed themselves.
"Forgotten Atmosphere: Philomela"
2016
This is a painting about people who are victims of rape and sexual assault who are too often forgotten.
Think of the entire area of this painting as every rape and sexual assault committed in America in a single year.
That small, thin blue/green line at the bottom -- only roughly a tiny .6% of this painting -- those are the only attacks where the perpetrator is ultimately sent to jail.
Those are some incredibly small odds. And sometimes, after a victim somehow beats those odds, that rapist is only sent to jail for 6 months for raping an unconscious woman if the rapist is on the swim team at Stanford.
On average, there are 288,820 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault every year in the United States.
If you spend just 2 minutes looking at this painting and thinking about this today, in that time another person will be raped or sexually assaulted in America.
"Forgotten Atmosphere: Scheherazade"
2016
This is a painting about people of the Muslim faith who are too often forgotten.
Think of the entire area of this painting as the last 13 years. The large yellow/green area at the bottom, over half of the painting, that's the 7 of the last 13 years when a Nobel Peace Prize was given to a person of the Muslim faith.
These are people we should be talking more about.
Notice that the colors of paint that I've used for the Muslims and non-Muslims in this painting, yellow/green and blue/green? They're really not that different from each other.
These are those Nobel Peace Prize winners: Shirin Ebadi of Iran (2003), Mohamed ElBaradei of Egypt (2005), Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh (2006), Tawakkol Karman of Yemen (2011), Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan (2014), and the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet (2015).
Making History
2016
Every Republican and Democratic presidential nominee from every election year, by race and gender.
"Hillary Clinton: Sky's the Limit"
2016
Portrait of Hillary Clinton that I created from the words to her speech accepting her nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
"When there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit."
Totally Sweet Halloween Candy Monsters
Monsters created with Halloween candy.
"Totally Sweet: The Bride"
2016
The iconic bride of Frankenstein made out of Halloween candy.
"Totally Sweet: Vincent Price"
2016
Vincent Price (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993), shown here in a "Totally Sweet" portrait I made out of Halloween candy.
"Totally Sweet: They Live"
2015
Here's a TOTALLY SWEET alien, from the movie "They Live," that I built out of Halloween candy.
"They Live" is a 1988 John Carpenter film.
"Totally Sweet: The Undertaker"
2015
The Undertaker, in a totally sweet portrait I've made out of Halloween candy.
"Totally Sweet: Flying Monkey from Oz"
2015
Here's a Wizard of Oz flying monkey portrait I've made out of Halloween candy.
"Totally Sweet: The Genie"
2014
Last night, I was trying to get a head start on this year's Totally Sweet Halloween candy monster portraits, when I heard about Robin Williams. I wasn't exactly sure I'd show this to anyone, and I'm not exactly sure, and don't exactly care, where this fits on the official spectrum of acceptable expressions of facebox emotion.
"Totally Sweet: Cthulu"
2014
Cthulu from H. P. Lovecraft's horror stories.
Motor City Witch Trials
"Motor City Witch Trials" is based on some of the most bewitching people I've met here in Detroit, the city where everyone is always being judged.
The quotes are from those who were executed during the Salem Witch Trials, including some from Mary Eastey, my grandmother from about 13 generations back, who was executed Sept. 22, 1692.
2016
The quote here is from my grandmother from about 13 generations back Mary Eastey, who was executed Sept. 22, 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials.
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Election 2016 Endurance Painting Challenge
It took a great deal of endurance to paint all of the presidential candidates.
Hillary Clinton
Bernie Sanders
Donald Trump
Ted Cruz
My Drinking Problem: Vernor's 150th Birthday Celebration
I drank 150 cans of Vernor's for their 150th birthday.
Hollywood Witch Trials
"Hollywood Witch Trials" is a series of portraits based on celebrity crime mug shots and excerpts from Salem Witch Trial transcripts.
About 72 people were accused and tried of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. My own grandmother from about 13 generations back, Mary Eastey, was among the last people executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: Andre the Giant"
2015
Andre The Giant
This portrait of Andre the Giant is based on his mug shot after he was arrested for putting a TV cameraman in a headlock in Iowa in August 1989.
The quote here is from Giles Corey, who was pressed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to get him to enter a plea after being accused of witchcraft. He died after two days of torture 323 years ago on Sept. 19, 1692. His wife, Martha Corey was executed by hanging Sept. 22, 1692.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: Lindsay Lohan from Windsor"
2016
Lindsay Lohan
This portrait of Lindsay Lohan is based on her LA County Sheriff's Department mug shot from October 2011 after a judge revoked her probation because she failed to perform court-ordered community service.
369 years ago, Alse Young (ca. 1600 – May 26, 1647) of Windsor, Connecticut was hanged in the first recorded instance of execution for witchcraft in America.
The quote, "One of Windsor was hanged," is taken from a journal of then Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: Paris Hilton"
2015
Paris Hilton
This portrait of Paris Hilton is based on her mug shot after she was arrested for a parole violation in 2007.
The quote here is from Martha Corey, who was executed for witchcraft about 323 years ago on Sept. 22, 1692.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: David Bowie the Witch"
2016
David Bowie
This portrait of David Bowie is based on his March 1976 mugshot after he was arrested along with Iggy Pop in upstate New York on a felony pot possession charge.
Quote here is from Bridget Bishop, who 324 years ago (June 10, 1692) was the first person executed for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: Eminem"
2015
Eminem
This portrait of Eminem is based on his mug shot after he was arrested in June 2000 for carrying a concealed weapon and for assault after he got into a fight with a man he saw kissing his wife.
The quote here is from James Willard, who was accused of witchcraft after refusing to arrest others who had been accused. He was hanged on August 19, 1692.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: Kid Rock"
2015
Kid Rock
This portrait of Kid Rock is based on his mugshot after he was arrested for getting into a fight at a Waffle House in Georgia in Oct. 2007.
The quote here is from Giles Corey, who was pressed to death under heavy stones after he refused to plead (guilty or not guilty) after being accused of witchcraft. He died after two days of torture 323 years ago on Sept. 19, 1692. His wife, Martha Corey was executed by hanging Sept. 22, 1692.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: Lindsay Lohan"
2015
Lindsay Lohan
This portrait of Lindsay Lohan is based on her mug shot after pleading no contest to reckless driving in March 2013.
Quote here is from my great grandmother about 13 generations or so back, Mary Eastey, who was executed for witchcraft 323 years ago Sept. 22, 1692.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: Bill Cosby"
2016
Bill Cosby
This portrait of Bill Cosby is based on his 2015 mug shot when he was charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman 12 years earlier. He is 78 years old.
The quote here is from George Jacobs, Sr., who was found guilty of witchcraft and hanged on August 19, 1692. He was 72 years old. His granddaughter was also accused of witchcraft, and was one of his accusers.
"Hollywood Witch Trial: Paris Hilton the Devil"
2016
Paris Hilton
This portrait of Paris Hilton is based on her 2010 mugshot when she was arrested for cocaine possession.
Quote here is from Rebecca Nurse, my great aunt from about 13 generations back, who was executed for witchcraft in Salem on July 19, 1692.
My Drinking Problem: Pumpkin Spice Odyessy
Due to the ubiquitousness of it, I consumed nothing but Pumpkin Spice coffee for a month.
