My friend, Jason Mecier, brilliant junque drawer portrait artist and whose edible art we stand in front of in the tableau above, did this portrait of me a couple of years ago when I first opened The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch at AWMOK.com:
It’s made out of junque I had lying around my house and storage garage, plus some of Jason’s own stash peppering the green background. I constantly collected tons of found objects because the art I did myself, mostly in the 1980’s and early 90’s, consisted of found objects incorporated into my paintings. This is by no means my favorite and looks all jumbled so small (actually 36″x48″) but it’s the only one I could put my hands on right away:
A couple of years ago I also used some of my junque when I collaborated with my alter-ego, Bubbles the artist, who I managed during her six-year career selling over 1000 paintings and ceramics. Although not as junque-covered as I would like to show here, this one’s hanging in my hallway which serves the purpose of easily sliding it into this post.
Since Jason’s portrait of me has hung in my house it’s become de rigueur to be included in any press photos I do, like this one from The Los Angeles Times a couple of weeks ago when I did my Soup to Nuts Party Mix live show.
As Jason took found object assemblage to a whole other place I gladly bestowed some of my most precious junque upon him for the portrait.
Now Jason has incorporated an entirely new medium into his portraiture, one of my favorite substances on earth and a staple here at Willis Wonderland, Red Vines. In his show at Iam8bit last Friday night, “Licorice Flix, Edible Movie Mosaics”, he interpreted the movies thusly:
Here’s me and my date for the night, Storm Lee, singer extraordinaire, with Jason:
And here we are with another good friend of mine as she arrives at the opening, Angelyne:
Lots of good friends in attendance, observing brilliant art and munching on the Red Vine “paint”. From L-R, Storm, me, Jason, Adam Ansel and Daniel Franzese.
I first met Selene Luna, co-star of Margaret Cho’s The Cho Show, through Jason and Adam:
I usually get bored at art openings, but between the art, the place – yay iam8bit -, the featured gourmet treat and medium, Red Vines, I was a happy gal Friday night. I now leave you with Jason’s Nomi slobbering up a stripper pole in the kitsch klassic, Showgirls:
Jason Mecier
Thanks Allee!
Always great to hang out with you!
Jason
BeeJay
That portrait of you is AWESOME, simply brilliant, it makes me flip every time I see it. Paul recently posted a portrait of Kim Kardashian made of Licorice on his Pee-wee page on FB that must been made by Jason too! Incredible!
Allee Willis
Definitely by Jason. That was in this show too.
shirlie williams
Incredible, the mind boggles as to how he manages to put it all together…Red Vines are licorice ? We have them in a very thin string like appearance here in the UK, I call them shoe laces..YUM!
Allee Willis
Yes, pre-cut and twisted red licorice.
MyFunCloset
Red twizzlers are my weakness. But as art its so much better!
Question….what’s the best glue to make the “found objects” hold forever? I’m on a project using white glue. Not sure it will last for many years and beyond.
Jason Mecier
I use hot glue for candy also. I make sure the Red Vines are dried out first so the glue sticks. I use Aleen’s tacky glue for most things, but E600 (from the hardware store) for really hard to glue things like glass or rubber or big objects like wine bottles etc. It’s really stinky and toxic, but works the best.
Allee Willis
Thank you, Jason!
Allee Willis
I use all the same stuff and every now and then Goop. Also used to use jet melt glue. Heavy duty and lethal smelling but seriouly attaches metal to things.
Allee Willis
White glue is really hard to deal with. Doesn’t glue instantly and is pretty weak. For most things I use hot melt glue. For something like red vines though, it probably wouldn’t grab or if it did, might not hold over time. Not sure what Jason used. For any candy I’ve incorporated into my pieces I’ve used hot melt to hold them in place but then wired them in.
MyFunCloset
Thanks for the the tips on best glue to use. Been working on a project tacking assorted small found game pieces and more on a frame. I was concerned that the white glue would not have a really long shelf life. Now I know.