Work > Peacocks

These peacocks borrow human mating plumage, anthropomorphically showcasing our adaptations and natural orders as their own. They are made of fake fingernails, barrettes, nail polish, false eyelashes, and jewelry to represent the choices involved in biological processes that are unique to humankind.

Quoted from curator Jennifer Scanlan's essay for my show, Flight of the Dodo:
"Roth’s peacocks are bejeweled examples of the unnatural ways in which humans mimic nature. The splendor of the male peacock, long a symbol of vanity and self-importance, has the biological function of attracting a mate. Roth’s peacocks are bedecked with an avalanche of bling: fake fingernails, barrettes, false eyelashes, and nail polish—all ways in which humans (largely females) manipulate and falsify nature, perhaps with the intent to attract their own mate.. At first glance, the birds are humorous parodies of human vanity. At the same time, the aggression of their poses is undeniable. In Roth’s hands, beauty has an underlying current of danger, and vanity becomes violent."

Queen and La Reina 
(two pieces)
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, costume jewelry, walnut, Swarovski crystal
2013
Beauty
mixed media including fake fingernails, barrettes, false eyelashes, nail polish, costume jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
46" wide, 36" deep, 67" tall
2011
Beauty
mixed media including fake fingernails, barrettes, false eyelashes, nail polish, costume jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
46" wide, 36" deep, 67" tall
2011
Regalia
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
40" wide, 22" deep, 63" tall
2011
Regalia (back)
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
40" wide, 22" deep, 63" tall
2011
Ripley's Birds of Paradise (close)
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
65" high, 40" wide, and 20" deep
2010
Ripley's Birds of Paradise
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
65" high, 40" wide, and 20" deep
2010
Plumage
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
61" tall, 37" wide, and 22" deep
2010
Beholder
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
24 x 36 x 59"
2010
Beholder
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
24 x 36 x 59"
2010
Beholder
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
24 x 36 x 59"
2010
Birds of Paradise
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
50" diameter by 50" tall
2009
Birds of Paradise
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
50" diameter by 50" tall
2009
Birds of Paradise
mixed media including fake fingernails, nail polish, barrettes, false eyelashes, jewelry, walnut, swarovski crystal
50" diameter by 50" tall
2009
Paradise
fake fingernails, barrettes, false eyelashes, nail polish, jewelry, swarovski crystal, wood
8 x 12 x 35 inches
2008