Mark primarily worked with found objects and large-scale installations. Many of Mark’s objects were created in the year and a half prior to his death. After a year-long session in the studio, these objects began to emerge in the summer of 1991. The objects expressed a wide range of themes including his love and exploration of nature. Natural materials and the preserved remains of animals such as antlers, fur, marine exoskeletons, bird eggs and rabbit feet were a common catalyst for his objects. Mark tackled the subject of sexuality for gay men in a predominantly heterosexual society. Many of his objects deal with AIDS and the related issues that became an everyday part of Mark’s life.
Best of Luck / 1992
hand-forged steel, rabbit feet
Collection of Roger Workman
Unconditional / 1991 (detail)
steel, antique toy bear
Collection of Roger and Connie Ransom
Post Card for The Pleasures of Melancholy / 1991 (featuring a full image of Unconditional)
Science Fair / 1992
steel, found cage, rabbit fur
Collection of Roger Workman
Buddy / 1992
steel, wood, deer antlers, chalk
Collection of Tom Patchett
Silent Tear / 1992
steel, glass, crystal beads chain
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Gift of Roger Workman, Ruth Bloom Gallery and Nowell J. Karten
Bye Bye Boy Scouts / 1992
bone camping knife, paint
Collection of Noel Korten
Bye Bye Boys Scouts commemorates a scout outing where Mark was publicly blamed for a forest fire that ignited after another boy improperly extinguished a demonstration campfire. The humiliation of being singled out as inferior to the others forced Mark to acknowledge his outsider status in a male institution.
Memory: Deer hooves / 1991
deer hoofs, photograph
Collection of Rebecca Morales
Untitled / 1991-92
steel, fur, velvet, beads
Collection of Anne and Greg Avis
Paired-Impaired / 1992
wood, hand-forged steel
Collection of Elisa Greban Crystal
His Secret / 1991
steel, antique Victorian box, human hair
Collection of Mick Taggerty and Terri Phillips
First Date / 1992
steel, wood, deer antlers, beads
Collection of Roger Workman
Noble Friend / 1992
metal, leather, gourd, rhinestones
Courtesy Ruth Bloom Gallery, Santa Monica and Roger Workman
Lost and Found / 1992
human hair, steel, faux jewels, millinery form
Ruth Bloom Gallery, Santa Monica and Roger Workman
Hope and Desire / 1993
purse, keys, chain
Collection of Janeen and Cam Schiff
