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Empire Series

 Crossing
From Emmanuel Letuze's Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) 


manually stitched thread on denim  
84"x 60"

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Westward Course
From Emmanuel Letuze's Westward Course of Empire Takes its Way (1860) 

manually stitched thread on denim  
84"x 60"

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Tomorrow is Another Day
An heirloom anticipating optimism


manually stitched thread on denim  
40"x 32"

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Niagara (Falls)
From Frederic Edwin Church's Niagara 
(1857)
 
manual stitch and screen-printed images on canvas interlaced on denim  
60"x 45"

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Stripes
Screen print, Canvas, Denim, and Thread
35”x20”

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America Is Hard to See

The title of Robert Frost's 1951 poem and the 2015 new Whitney's inaugural show

Manual Stitch on Denim

60” X 45”

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Now / Won

Manual Stitch on Denim

50” X 32”

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One and Done
Manual Stitch on Denim
18”x18”

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Departing, Parting (ii)
Acrylic and thread on denim 
7”x13”

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Of Course, Empire

Images from Thomas Cole's The Course of Empire Series (1833-36)

Manual Stitch on Denim within a Tambour Frame

8"x8"

MAN
LEGEND
MYTH

Denim Heirlooms

Visual Works Concerning  Ghosts, Texas, and Dreams

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A Biography of Forefathers in Three Chapters

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I. Autonomous/Anonymous

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(Unit)ed, Untied

For the Three in a Father's Photograph 

manually stitched image as denim heirloom  

3’x 3’

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Backside of (Unit)ed, Untied

manually stitched heirloom

memorializing a photograph

 

3"x 3"

From left to right:

a family friend, my great grandfather,

and grandfather

 

circa 1960, from father's archive

3"x 3"

II. He was Once 'Miguel'

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Heads and Tails (Tales)

My Grandfather’s Green Card

manually stitched denim 

3’x 3’

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III. A People's Play

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Death of a Myth

My Grandfather’s Retablo Stage

denim heirloom, quilted with a cathedral window pattern

3.5’x 5’

my grandfather, little caballero

 

circa 1965,

from father's archive

3"x 3"

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Death of a Myth (Pants for Walking Man)

white paint and denim from El Paso. manually sewn retablo and handmade jeans 

3.5’x 5’

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Pants for Walking Man

handmade jeans with embossed cathedral pattern 

2’x 4’

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BOOK II

Dam(ned)nation

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I. Janky Jeans (Genes)

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El Paso Street Texas Exes

Jeans for all those Texas Exes

repurposed jeans from El Paso's Salvation Army adorned with hand-shaped patches  
2’x 3’

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Source Material from Texas Ave. 

sun-bleached signs from El Paso 

screenshots from Google Maps

digital works

II. Waive, Waving, Wavering

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A Waving Flag Wavers

Pleated denim relief referencing Italian Futurism 

seamed denim, jeans sourced from El Paso's Salvation Army  

2’x 3’

III. Rough Riding Rodeo

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'Bunting' Flag (Two Definitions of the Verb)

referencing records from the Tri-State Fair & Rodeo circa 1983

oil on cut canvas  

2’x 3’

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BOOK III

Man-Made Myth

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I. Genesis Story

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Honky-tonk Donkey

If a Horse Walked into a Bar...

repurposed jean collage  

6’x 5’

II. Denim George (Brother of the Velvet Elvis)

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Wall of Feigned Fame

Three Singing Buckaroos 

oil on canvas images finished with handmade fringe  

5’x 9’

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Livin' on Love, A Lot About Livin'

And a Little 'bout Love

oil on canvas encircled by handmade denim fringe  

3’x 5’

The Cowboy Rides Away

George Strai(gh)t

oil on canvas encircled by handmade denim fringe   

3’x 5’

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How Do you Like me Now?

oil on canvas images surrounded by handmade denim frame 

3’x 5’

III. WPA Works

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Under the Same Sky 

Reconstituted details from Texas WPA Mural

 

paint and manually-stiched thread on denim 

various sizes under 8"x6"

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Detail from Early Texans, 

Nicholas Lyon 

courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum 

11’x 28’

Encore: Portent of a New Season

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 Cowboy Already (Always) Away

manual stitch on painted canvas with a handmade denim border
11’x 8’

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