Binkie Bears series, 2001-2010

From a padded freight elevator in a Los Angeles gallery to a 60’-by-20’ reading area at the Phoenix Children’s Museum, this series of installations and felt-covered sculptures functions to catalyze social gathering, public displays of intimacy and expand notions of museum/gallery culture.

Binkie Bears was initially created to be part of the exhibition Nook and Crannies at ASU Art Museum. Two benches were roughly bear-shaped with pockets and buttonholes; another large bear was propped up in the elevator; a fourth was fabricated with the participation of fourth graders. Viewers were left on their own to discover, to initiate interaction or not. It was easy to slide in a hand at one bear’s waistline and be immersed in a furry space all the way to the bear’s feet. For Tight, at POST gallery in Los Angeles, a freight elevator was covered entirely in felt, with several hidden fur pockets and a repaired cut in the bear’s belly. Each component of the project holds unexpected tension between whimsical imagery and deeper or hidden implications.