Solo Exhibitions

Shadow Tower
Greenlease Gallery at Rockhurst University
Kansas City, Missouri
February 23 - Mach 17, 2007

Curated by Anne Pearce

In 2006, Steven visited Rockhurst University—where both of us attended college—and stopped by the newly expanded Greenlease Gallery where he met Anne Pearce, Chair of the Art Department. After seeing a few of our pieces, Anne said, “I’d love to do an exhibition of your work.” That show became Shadow Tower, our very first solo exhibition.

The series featured black ultrasuede boxes that opened like butterflies to reveal meticulously crafted handbags, miniature scrolls, and hidden compartments. Each piece was adorned with hand-carved silver clasps and intricately beaded elements made by William. Some were wearable; others were pure fantasy. When closed, the boxes formed towering sculptural stacks. When opened, they revealed interior worlds.

“The experience was transformative. We gave our first public artist talk, led a Girl Scout troop through the exhibition, and reconnected with our Kansas City community. Most importantly, we began a lifelong friendship with Anne Pearce.

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Shadow Tower, 2002 (detail) photo: Andrew Zuckerman

We also created a hand-bound folio documenting the series and projected a short film of the unfolding process by our friend Mak. The entrance to the gallery was wallpapered with large-format black-and-white process photos by Andrew Zuckerman. Inside, pedestals displayed the works in varying states of transformation.

One series, Hottie Tottie Tower, contained a range of black and gray accessories—beaded necklaces, antique cuffs, and ultrasuede-wrapped objects. Every piece reflected our values at the time: purity, light, love, abundance.

Having our first solo show at the place where we learned to sew, where Steven was given the keys to the costume shop by his mentor Atif Rome, and where we built the foundation for our creative life, made Shadow Tower a profound full-circle moment in our evolution as artists.”

Shadow Tower Performance Film by MAK (circa 2002)

This video artwork was created by our dear friend, the artist MAK. She was closely acquainted with our performance work and asked to film a live enactment of Shadow Tower, one of our earliest performance-based artworks.

The layered video captures Steven performing Shadow Tower inside one of our first live/work spaces, located on the third floor of the Brooklyn building where we’d lived and worked on the ground floor. He circles a tower of hand-sewn black ultra-suede boxes. One by one, each box is dismantled to reveal zippered “butterfly boxes”; in turn, these sculptural containers are ununzipped to reveal hand-sewn handbags, each paired with detachable beaded straps that double as necklaces or bracelets. The butterfly boxes act as both display and cocoon, echoing themes of transformation, intimacy, care and protection.

This performance was quietly ritualistic and deeply personal. It marked one of our earliest studio presentations to collectors and curators. MAK’s film captures it with a sensitivity that mirrors the work itself.

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