Aqua Fitness

This is Deborah Jang. Thank you for visiting my show, SUM OF THE PARTS. On a walk around our neighborhood, in an alleyway, we came upon a discarded beat up headboard. Our eyes lit up. We later circled back in the car and hauled the treasure home, dividing up the parts between us. My partner Mark [Friday, who is showing downstairs in the main gallery] also does assemblage sculpture and we're always on the lookout for potential materials. This AQUA FITNESS series evolved from that alleyway discovery, in conversation with many other lost-and-found items that I'd collected through the years. Also, at the time, I was taking an aqua fitness class –– all of which I believe contributed to the spirit of this collection -- with its lyrical and nautical sensibility. I don't generally try to spruce up the parts that I find. I love the distressed patinas and textures. Sometimes I purposely let parts weather in the elements, or work with them to acquire that worn look. You'll notice a rusted sword in SHIP SHAPE, which was a gift from a neighbor in the SF Bay when I lived on a boat in Sausalito. I appreciate the histories behind many of the parts, as well as the mysteries from parts unknown. The other two pieces showing from this series are BLOWHARD and STRANGE BEDFELLOWS, aptly named, as they once were on exhibit at the State Capitol building.