VOLTA NY

artist statement ||| Giant Metal Matchbooks

Why matchbooks? It reflects the artist’s love of pop culture, its vibrancy and also its accidental depth and poignancy. “A common object is a perfect meeting place.” That’s a Claes Oldenburg quote, and it’s still true—the most banal objects, aren’t.

Obviously Claes Oldenburg’s giant sculptures are forerunners, along with a dash of Warhol’s Brillo boxes and a side of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." The aluminum matchbooks open up, revealing—yes, giant wooden matches, with realistic (rubber) match heads.

Do they light? Not exactly. But they burn.