Footloose in Paradise #1 Wes Bogner 1987,color pencil on paper 15"x 22"
Inspiration comes from experiences and a playful awareness of one's immediate surroundings. I came to the Big Island looking for time to make art and space to live. In contemporary social dynamics and economic equations; Time is Money. But Money is not Time even if it can buy hours of it. Time is Life and we each only get so much to spend.
Footloose in Paradise #20 Detail
I invested $35 each month to cover rent on an old plantation shack. Kerosene lamps and an outhouse brought out the ozark in me. I had plenty time to spend on my artwork, exploring Ka'u and beach combing. Anyone visiting the islands can't help but notice that the local population moves from here to there predominately in slippahs, [slippers/flip-flops/zoris].
Footloose in Paradise #3 Wes Bogner 1988 acrylic on panel
Everywhere you go in Hawaii, some one has already been there. Evidence of their passing is found in parking lots, vacant lots, housing lots, sidewalks, and all the foot trails. Both ancient and modern walkways are punctuated with lost and usually broken, worn out or blown out slippahs.
Appearing in unlikely places, lost flip-flops inundate our environment with a familiarity which is comforting if not empathic. Found in the yard, found in the doghouse, found at the beach, found in the middle of nowhere, found in the laundry and lost and found at large indoor parties. On the lanai slippahs jump owners and walk away. On sale for $2 to $50 dollars, no one can afford to go without or go out with less.
F.L.I.P. #2 Wes Bogner 1988 acrylic on panel, 24"x 36" detail
The visual impact of this abandoned footwear turning up in all the nooks and cracks of our tropical culture; under the step, under the bed, under the car, under the bush, and underfoot, creates a landscape measured in steps. Steps leading to the discovery of how it physically feels to loose a slippah 10 minutes down a lava trail. Reality hits as attempts to hop one-footed back or forward are short-lived.
F.L.I.P. #20 Wes Bogner 1998, mixed media 'Foot Loose In Paradise', [F.L.I.P.] creates a metaphor and a pun which the series of artworks illustrates and explores in playful and humorous ways. Using a multi-media substructure, marbles, mortar, and liquid rubber combine in an oversize glass slippah, measuring 34"x 18"x 3", entitled, #20, shown above. Click on any thumbnail image for a full size photo.
When one decides to dedicate a major body of artworks to footwear, many people and galleries, too, question the validity of serious humor. Laughter is in fact the best response to many of life's disappointments let alone small inconveniences such as lost or trashed footwear. Really funny statements are made by stand-up comedians not serious artists.