Dive
To Dive
This is a sculptural work that I first started to conceive of and work on conceptually in 2005 but only made sense of the idea in 2016.
I often have a very long gestation period for my more significant works and this one is a great example of that.
An autobiographical note: I am not a strong swimmer. I grew up in Southern Arizona where there were pools in nearly every family's back yard and as a child it was absolutely the expectation that one would come to pool parties. Unfortunately, I was terrified of the water, and when sent to swim lessons as an elderly five year old (everyone starts swimming so much younger) I failed out of the YMCA swim program because I refused to do a pup-dive into the pool. I was completely terrified of putting my face into the water first. So the most basic lesson in swimming became my last lesson.
Years and years later, as a very weak swimmer, only knowing how to dog paddle and do some faking of a forward stroke (? definitely not what it's called) I started to romanticize this weakness. I would ask my dates and girlfriends - can you teach me how to dive? This question and the prompt that it brings about became an artwork in itself for me.
Teach me to dive and I will love you forever.
I eventually taught myself to do pup dives from the edge of pool coping and even tried some from a diving board - no idea if they actually were technically dives or just belly flops with a head in first.
The diving board is most often combined with the Swimmer's Dilemma pieces to create a full conversation around autonmous actions, choices that may (or may not in this case) lead to increasing one's social position, status, respect.
The diving board presents a dare about the entire trajectory of one's adult life for the viewers to contemplate as both a discreet object for action and also as an overarching structure that one may or may not place ourselves within.
Teach me to dive and I will love you forever is a beautiful sentiment that I have asked of many lovers and friends but haven't ever been able to achieve.