A few weeks back I headed over to Chinatown to visit Jeremy Mora‘s studio. You may know Jeremy from POVevolving gallery, but he also makes some great sculptures. Before we pop in on Jeremy’s studio, let’s check out some vintage signs down Chung King road.

Fong’s.. No clue what they sell but I’m sold on the signage.

Great typography…

This street holds a few dozen galleries. There’s even a store with snack machines and art on the walls. I forgot to take photos of it but maybe i’ll save that for another chinatown post spotlighting the shows. In the meantime let’s follow Jeremy into his studio.

Jeremy’s studio is a wondrous place full of miniature worlds.  He takes various found and industrial materials and combines them in unexpected ways to create structures that transcend their original materials. Every time I stop by he is mixing cement with epoxy, dissolving foam with some chemical, or mixing tar with spray paint. The studio almost has the feel of a mad scientist creating bizarre concoctions to take over the art world.

Speaking of mad scienist here’s Jeremy holding a tiny piece that usually hangs from a tiny piece of vine. It’s like a maquette of the world that fits perfectly in the mad scientists hand. From far away it looks like a ball of abstract material but once you get close, you see a world filled with miniature figures, buildings, and structures.

Here’s a detail of another piece. The work reminds me of shanty towns mixed with small decaying islands of concrete and debris. Lots of stuff to see and get lost in.

Not sure what that part is made of, but I do remember that it was a combination of a few materials that most people wouldn’t think of combining. The yellow stuff on the right hand side is plastic flowers. Looks like a bolder version of Gene Simmons sticking his tongue out .

Mini island in a box back from a show a few months back.

This was one of the more minimal pieces in the studio. The base was made out of bricks, the gold part is insulation foam that’s spraypainted and the circular piece on top is styrofoam.

Stacks and stacks…

House stack.

So many of these works have apocalyptic undertones. When the world gets destroyed by a flying ball of fire, I call dibs on this mountain cave nest.

Miniature cave….

…with piles of debris. Reminds me of a bird’s nest.

Make sure to stop by Jeremy’s site to check out the final images of the work.