Who do the voo-doo that you do-- so well!

Pictured here with a visiting artist, Chakia, a sculptor from NY. I had to hide in the corner of a studio to get my giggly smile to go away before I met with her. Doubled over with silent, painful laughter, I did some cheek excercises until the threat of an outburst passed.

As my friend Ann-Maree described the artist's elaborate accessory-- "Just picture, it's like you wrapped 20 dresses from an African thrift store around your head." I kept dreaming up other articles I wanted to stuff in there-- I decided tube socks dangling from each side, like floppy bunny ears would be pretty funny. Or she could pay homage to destructive tornados and have pieces of siding, perhaps a tree branch jutting out.

And yes, the party's only upstairs. Below the voodoo mama headdress and African printed fabric that was knotted into a top, she wore a navy blue painter's jump suit and paint-splattered Vans. So, somehow, she manages to get paint while balancing a whole wardrobe on her neck.

If only her work was as interesting as her get-up. But that's a tough act to match.