The Destruction Of Stick Vega!

I like telling stories.  Often, Renee frowns. She has heard them so many times (remember my bad day in ethics class). But, story telling is an escape for me.  Like doing my art.

My work, similar to my stories, are landscapes.  I am interested in what can be left of a burned landscape.  I explode emotional, political, environmental and human landscapes. Paint, gunpowder, fuse and fire all transform into features of a particular situation.

At one of my recent shows an older man said, "You like to destroy things."

My "pop" expressionism is not about destruction.  It is a story of possibilities and hope.

Each time I put down paint, shape the gunpowder, twist the fuse and strike a match a new story is created.

The explosions surprise me.

It is a spontaneous process.

It is constantly changing.

It is not destruction.

It is life. 

Now, let me tell you a story about my ethics class. (Sorry, Renee!) It all starts with an American tax accountant in Italy... and ends with me getting kicked out of class.

Stick Vega is the American Gunpowder Artist.  He creates explosive pop art and blogs from The Blast Factory in Madison, WI and Bucktown, Chicago, IL.  Follow Stick on Facebook and/or Twitter.