Founder's Edition: High Art Billboards Bag + PUP
Miracle Hot Springs, Buhl, Idaho is from Autobiography in Water which depicts water as a source of renewal, leisure, tradition, and longing. The pools, rivers, lakes, and oceans captured in this series offer continuity and familiarity in an effort to connect me to the locales that I once called home. My mother brought me to Miracle Hot Springs many times as a child but one journey, decades later, featured two wasp stings and a very swollen foot. We returned in 2014 when I photographed her spreading my drawing over the surface of the hot pool as if to say no insect or allergic reaction was a match for these healing geothermal waters or her presence of mind to take me there.
In 2018, the Indy Arts Council selected this image for their High Art Billboards project and it rotated throughout the city for a year. When the billboards were dismantled and distributed to the artists, the primary goal was to repurpose mine in a meaningful and functional way. Because swimming is such an important family activity, and given that the swimming pool is a recurring topic in my artwork, I chose to create swim bags. I was fortunate that my friend, Lynn Levy, connected me with People for Urban Progress (PUP), a local nonprofit organization whose mission is sustainability and reducing waste. They were willing to partner with me to realize my vision.
Each one-of-a-kind PUP bag, the result of our collaboration and modeled after their Lifeguard style, is for sale. All are composed of a portion of my billboard, blue vinyl mesh banners, and reclaimed seat belts.
The Founder's Edition bags are hand-selected and are accompanied by a limited-edition pigment print from the series Language Erratics. They are priced at $225 (includes shipping and handling) and proceeds from their sale will be utilized to fund the fabrication of the remaining bags that will be made available for sale to the general public.
Specs:
• Bag Dimensions: 17" x 13" x 3.5" (with a 9" drop handle)
• Interior is mesh with a slip pocket
• As they are made of repurposed materials, there may be inconsistencies in the vinyl (namely tiny scuffs and color shifts)
• Signed pigment print is 8.5" x 11" (edition of ten)
Contact jrxpupATgmailDOTcom to purchase.