The Book of Fish and Women

So there really is an actual Book of Fish and Women. It is an art concept book that I created in 1991 in response to the emotional chaos I was experiencing during my Freshman year in Art School. I was a sweet young thing who previously lived a very sheltered existence (though, I thought I was very bohemian compared to the country club and private school set I was raised with – I considered myself a real Miss Thang!) Anywho, I was living in the big city of Boston, taking the “T” daily from Back Bay to Roxbury, on the trains or buses packed with people of every variety ( I say that with love in my heart and the 49 year old version of myself considers that heaven! Sigh, if only youth wasn’t wasted on the young!), the 1st Iraq war had just broke out- I was really worried about my male friends- having grown up watching the multitude of movies created in the 80’s about the Vietnam War, also the Last Temptation of Christ novel by Paul Schrader and then the movie super impacted all my quasi-Luthern sensibilities- it was all eternal spiritual conflict Brah!…. BUT, mostly I was losing my shit, because my boyfriend, whom I loved most desperately and passionately, kept cheating on me, with females that I labeled, “the actress/ model type”, one of whom was my best friend…. So, in pathetic young angsty desperation, I bought Playboy magazines and collaged my way through all the heartache and disbelief of the Brave New World that I was living and as life would have it, continue to live….

Here are just a few excerpts from THE Book- they are yellowed and stained with age and the rubber cement shows through the images. Back in the day, as my pages increased, other people wished to contribute their art as well. The pages also included Art History references, experts from novels, song lyrics, and current events referenced throughout. It’s kinda of an interesting look at a person’s surrealist hell – all the lies, myths, misdirections and shattered expectations of youth and so forth, all told with images of fish and women….