Neon Templates of the Left Half of My Pregnant Body Taken at Ten Inch Intervals

Soft cobalt glass, helium, transformer.

This piece is a nod to Bruce Nauman’s Neon Templates of the Left Half of My Body Taken at Ten Inch Intervals, echoing its form and title with a crucial distinction—Neon Templates of the Left Half of My Pregnant Body Taken at Ten Inch Intervals. In making it, I turned to Jacob Fishman—a community member, mentor of sorts, and the fabricator of Nauman’s original piece, who has been instrumental in preserving much of his neon work globally—to guide me through the process and installation details, ensuring I got it right.

At its core, this work is a statement on where we are now with the craft of neon—who is making it, how it’s being made, and what it can mean beyond its historical associations with pop art. I stand on the shoulders of artists like Nauman, who, in the 1960s, brought commercial neon into the art world by hiring sign benders. But perhaps, with some cheek, I suggest that my pregnant body, bending neon templates of itself in fire by hand, offers a more compelling narrative. During this time, I was proud of my body—of what it was capable of—and I wanted to celebrate it. This piece is both an assertion of presence and a recognition of the evolving trajectory of neon as a craft and fine art form.