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This piece is titled NO TRESPASSING. It is a collection of four handmade voodoo dolls surrounded by my various belongings all hanging on a cork pin board. The metal placard the piece is named after was reclaimed from the French Quarter, New Orleans.

I had all of these items strewn about my house aimlessly and they did not serve any purpose on their own. So I decided to put them all together and now they are much happier. Their new purpose is to ward off strangers, burglars, and any nar-do-wells lurking around your house.

The "Bone Jour!" bone was a gift from Haydon (in the video you can see the piece hanging in the background). It is a piece of driftwood he collected from Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. He painted it along with many others as christmas gifts a couple years ago. He always makes the best gifts!

The "Mammy" voodoo pendant (in the middle) is a gift from my friend Leighann. She caught it at a Mardi Gras Parade. It feels like painted porcelain. Another awesome gift!

The frankenstein looking guy on the left is actually a plush dog toy.

Another gift (in the top left hand corner of the first picture) is a mass produced tourist bracelet that a friend brought me back from Nicaragua. Right below that is another bracelet with an awesome iridescent beetle encased in plastic. I bought it in Austin at the Mexican dollar deals store where everything is imported from Mexico (or China).

This is one of the handmade dolls. I started with collected twigs bundled and wrapped together with string. Then I used stuffing from an old pillow, covered it with old cut up tee shirt fabric, then strapped it closed with yarn. I wanted to use spanish moss for the stuffing (I had collected a lot of it in New Orleans City Park) but it seemed too buggy and I didn't want mold to start growing.

Their heads are plastic bubbles from the 0.50 cent machines, wrapped in fabric. Leighann and I were obsessed with acquiring the complete collection, but those vending machines were cruel, so we ended up with a lot of bubbles and empty pockets. The finishing touches are button eyes, straight pins in the chest, wooden beads, and random pendants.

Here are some dollar tree impulse buys. Obviously, tacky cheap Halloween decorations. The rubber chicken is so ridiculous. And it's meant to be. Also, this piece as a whole is not meant to be taken seriously. There are a few cross pendants but in no way is this a statement about religion.

In New Orleans, Voodoo/Hoodoo is just one of the many cultural aspects that has become gaudy, tacky, cheaply made, and a huge tourism ploy. I'm not defending or encouraging it.