Jesse's Girl
View under the Altar
Winnebago Farm
1990

Jesse's Girl
View under the Altar
Winnebago Farm
1990

Jesse's Girl
Detail of Flags before burning
Winnebago Farm
1990

Created in response to the art rape that occurred at Fremont Nebraska, JESSE'S GIRL was banned sight unseen by the town of Alliance Nebraska in July of 1990.

Jesse's Girl was not only a sculpture piece, but also a book entitled Jesse Can You Read My Lips and a performance piece called The Mounting of Jesse's Girl, in which the upper portion of the art work was to be symbolically burned in protest by the rape victims.

I withdrew the work from the Alliance show under the threat of gunfire.

On July 20, 1991 in Lincoln Nebraska, The Mounting of Jesse's Girl was performed at the First Annual Art Fair sponsored by the Women's Journal Advocate. An invited guest, the studio was asked specifically to present and perform my work as a statement in opposition to CENSORSHIP.  At this same performance, the book, Jesse Can You Read My Lips was released.

Jesse's Girl is a never ending art piece.  At each public showing the audience is invited to add tokens of their own rapes or rapes that they are concerned about as well as to sign a book recording reactions to the piece.
 

Mounting of Jesse's Girl
Burning of the flag in protest of rape
From the left:
Margery Coffey, Michael Wetmore, 
Arlan Lazaroff, richard chilton
Woman's Journal Advocate Art Fair
Lincoln NE 1991