Sleeping Giant (2006-2011)
Sleeping Giant is the story of twin boys born to a bear father and human mother. Their story begins in pioneer days. Their story mirrors America’s rise to power. The ageless brothers’ story unravels through American history. It begins in the wilderness past and ends in the suburban present. One brother leaves the unnamed small hometown to become a war hero and eventually a costumed vigilante known only as the Superhero. He returns later with only one arm, his best exploits behind him. The other brother dies in an accident trying to emulate his more adventurous brother and remains underground only to rise up as a giant sprouting huge trees from his body. Sleeping Giant uses the tropes of small town fiction like Our Town and Winesburg, Ohio to look at the role of the small town in American popular mythology.
Sleeping Giant had its first iteration as an installation at The Art Gym at Marylhurst University in Lake Oswego, Oregon in 2006. The installation included wall drawings, large and small-scale sculpture, a two-page comic and a three dimensional “comic”. The show also includes an accompanying catalog. The second version was a dance adaptation by the choreographer Lawrence Goldhuber. The eight-dancer performance included projected drawings, a painted backdrop and live music by the band Tin Hat. Tin Hat’s Mark Orton has done the scores for the films Nebraska and The Real Dirt on Farmer John. The performance premiered at MASS MoCA in 2008 and went on to a run at The Henry Street Settlement in New York. The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, New York Press and others covered Sleeping Giant. A new installation of The Sleeping Giant was shown at Boise Art Museum as part of the exhibition Comics at the Crossroads in 2011. There is a limited edition comic to accompany the exhibition.
Submersion
2005. Wall drawing in private residence. 9 feet height. This was the last of a series of wall drawings called "Deleted Scenes" that preceded Sleeping Giant.
Sleeping Giant installation view
2006. View of installation at The Art Gym at Marylhurst University. Townie in foreground, wall drawings in background.
Carried Superhero
2006. Charcoal on wall, approx. 26 feet long. Part of Art Gym installation. Photo by Bill Bachhuber
Townie detail
2006. Townie is a three dimensional comic. The piece consists of 20 wooden house forms that tell the origin story of the twins- The Sleeping Giant and the One-Armed Superhero. Each house is a page. The story begins in the pioneer past and goes to the suburban present. Photo by Bill Bachhuber
Townie detail
Detail from Part 1 of Townie. 2006, acrylic on wood.
The Great Bear
2005, ceramic, wood and cinder block, 8 ft. height. One of the sculptures from Sleeping Giant at the Art Gym.
Worried Superhero
2006. Ceramic and wood, 6 feet height. Part of the exhibition at the Art Gym.
Skins vs. Shirts detail
2006, polymer clay. Close-up of one of the sets of characters from the series Skin vs. Shirts.
Installation view of Skins vs. Shirts
2006, small polymer figures in plastic cases. Skins vs. Shirts come from the violent Id of the town in Townie. Figures resemble Ku Klux Klan members, wrestlers or superheroes.
Sleeping Giant comic page
2006. This was one page of a two page comic available at the gallery. I later expanded the comic to 10 pages for Lawrence Goldhuber who used it for choreography.
Sleeping Giant opening scene
Drawn for the dance performance of Lawrence Goldhuber's Sleeping Giant.
Brother's dance from Sleeping Giant
2008. The brother's dance from Lawrence Goldhuber's dance production of Sleeping Giant at MASS MoCA. The piece included scrims with projected drawings and a painted backdrop. Live music by Tin Hat.
Sleeping Giant at Boise Art Museum
2011, latex, woodcut posters and Townie. I did a new version of Sleeping Giant at Boise Art Museum as part of the exhibition Comics at the Crossroads.
Sleeping Giant at Boise Art Museum
2011, latex, woodcut posters and Townie. I did a new version of Sleeping Giant at Boise Art Museum as part of the exhibition Comics at the Crossroads.