Plastic Icons

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I created a series of pop icons that combined my interests in sculpture and painting with a desire to capture the spirit of the times. Life-size plastic figures projecting from colorful canvases juxtapose the conflicting elements of human sexuality and religious iconography, free love and the “Big Brother” state, hippie culture and haute couture all coexisting in a world rocked by the Vietnam War and exploding racial tensions.

The work plays with a number of elements to achieve this sense of tension and contrast: three dimensional realism and the flat geometric paintings; the reflective surfaces of sunglasses, helmet visors, or incorporated mirrors to bring the viewer into the work of art; sculpted bodies and painted landscapes; lush, almost idealized figures and hard-edged graphics. The work is more emblematic than pictorial in an attempt to embody the dichotomy of a particular culture in time.