MEGA-BRUSH 1.0

The MEGA-BRUSH 1.0 was my reaction to my monotonous schedule while I was doing my

MFA in Washington, D.C. I decided I needed to blast away the boring order of business the

school emanated. I was studying the Gutai movement at the time. Post-war, Japanese artists

formed Gutai to explore individualism and radically experimented with materials; painting with

feet, rolling in mud, running through paper, and so forth. They created work that was extremely

energetic and inventive. In addition, I was looking at artist-vandal-hacker, Katsu who

pioneered the use of fire extinguishers in graffiti to write on a massive scale. After looking at

these artists creating their own tools and processes I decided I wanted to create a method of

painting for myself that was evocative of the gnarly expression of skateboarding. A process

with a real send-it attitude.

This method of painting exhibits little control over the final outcome. Multiple variables dictate

the chaotic formations of explosions on the canvas from random selection of mis-tint paint

cans to the fluctuating gas explosions propelling the paint out of the cannon’s core.

The hefty beast of a brush itself is a hair-spray fueled potato cannon that shoots canisters of

paint made from card stock and hot glue. While living in D.C. Secret Service Police were

tending to their duties everywhere around my studio and for obvious reasons it would have

been a terrible idea to be seen carrying around a bazooka-type object. A disguise was

needed. My sister got me a Bob Ross coffee mug for my birthday. One morning when I was

drinking my coffee from this mug all I could think about was the giant brush he used to paint in

the introduction to his show. With a couple cups of coffee and a few giggles the perfect

disguise was born.