It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to uses performative gestures within found-object installations to validate the impulse to detach during social situations, the regret and sadness when you’ve planned a party but nobody attends, and the labor involved in hosting a social event. Celebration is slandered by frivolity, mishap, and foolishness. It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to embraces the quiet wallflower by revealing the life of the party to be a bit distasteful. Performed on two occasions, one with and one without an audience, I stuff party blowers into my mouth until they overwhelm, cover myself with ribbons, blow up balloons, allowing them to sputter away, throw confetti, and smash cake into my hidden face. In the piece’s final state, remnants of my performative actions lay about and parts of the installation are disassembled. My previous gestures were for the most part blind, the aesthetic result generated from the whims of the action rather than from my intention, poking at the dismantlement of the artist as genius and perfection as a legitimately attainable quality.

It’s my party and i'll cry if I want to III (initial state), Pochoir on rug remnants, easter decoration, basket, stuffed animals, tape, thread, mixed media, 12 x 16 x 5 feet, 2019

It’s my party and i'll cry if I want to III (performance stills), 30sec - 5min interactions with ribbon, balloons, bows, and confetti, 2019

It’s my party and i'll cry if I want to III (final state), Pochoir on rug remnants, easter decorations, basket, stuffed animals, tape, thread, ribbon, balloons, bows, and confetti, mixed media, 12 x 16 x 5 feet, 2019

It's my party and i'll cry if I want to IV (Performance still), Confetti cake, icing, sprinkles, confetti, tablecloth, balloons, plastic and fabric fringe, single channel video, dimensions variable, 16 minute duration, 2020