Zipper Tabs Series

The original zipper tab series began in 2010 while I was going on field trips to salvage yards with a group of mixed media artists.  I was curating a show with this mixed media group to create art derived from visiting various salvage yards throughout Los Angeles.  During one visit an art colleague noticed two dumpsters full of zipper tabs.  Because he knew I currently using beads in some of my artwork, he suggested I try these zipper tabs to create art for the show.  Seventy-five pounds of zipper tabs produced a six panel piece (18”x24” ea) of zipper tabs applied one at a time with gel medium  and acrylic as the adhesive.  Each panel consists of over 2500 zipper tabs.  The mixed-media piece entitled: “Aurelio of Camp Little “, represents a color field painting with zipper tabs as the dabs of color and texture.  
As a pattern and decoration artist, these zipper tab pieces produce fields of multiple patterns.  The zipper tabs also appear to be simulated textural brushstrokes.
Additionally, the zipper tabs reflect my families’ connection with materials used from the garment district.  My father was a fabric buyer who would come from Arizona to Los Angeles’ garment district to purchase his textiles and notions.  My maternal grandfather was a tailor who, in my imagination, purchased his fabrics at the nearby fabric stories.  I coincidently live near the DTLA garment district.
I see each generation in my family improving educationally and financially.  As an artist exposed to various art forms, especially introductions  to Dadaism, my interpretation of my families’ professions has materialized as mixed media-labor intensive paintings.