OAXACA WORKSHOP

From October 25-November 3, 2009, I was able to take an assemblage workshop given by Michael deMeng (michaeldemeng.com) and following the workshop, submerge myself in the magical Dia de los Muertos celebrations in Oaxaca, Mexico.

I have taken several of Michael's wonderful workshops and have learned so much at each one. He is a joy to be around and a wonderfully talented artist. The workshop concentrated on making new creatures from old creatures by adding all sorts of found objects by all different means, then creating new surfaces to paint using epoxy clay or caulking compound, etc. etc. I didn't quite follow the syllabus and decided to use an old drawer as the body of my creature and ended up with a creepy box baby. The class was lots of fun and my classmates did some wonderful creative and creepy things:

Many of these started off as funky Mexican action figures that were chopped up and reassembled into mystical creatures. Mine was way more conventional but had it's own kind of creepiness:

Creepy Box Baby

After 4 days of playing in the workshop, we got to explore the city of Oaxaca and participate in the many celebrations leading up to Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. We also went to cemetaries, villages, weavers, carvers, potters, ruins in the countryside. It was a wonderful nine days and I would recommend it to anyone.