Special Events // Keep A Breast X Eat Your Art Out charity auction

"Can You Hear Me?" a Yelley & Ron Rauto collaboration

Eat Your Art Out  is an annual fundraiser for the Angel City Derby Girls, LA's Flat track Roller Derby League, curated by my dear friend Carmen "Jane Dope" Acosta. I (Yelley) have loved being a part of this event for several years now, but this year the bar has been raised by a new partnership with Keep A Breast Foundation. I was honored to be selected to collaborate with my husband Ron Rauto on this bust, cast from Angel City Derby Girl "Sarah Oakley". 100% of the proceeds from this bust will be donated to Keep a Breast to help raise funds for breast cancer awareness and research.

After a quick brainstorming session, we decided that we wanted to do something that paid homage to the "sprits of the past" particularly those who have a direct connection to this cause like my own grandmother Fran Waggoner. "Gran" was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a masectomy in the 1960's.  She lived the rest of her life with a prosthetic breast, a story of struggle and survival that left a lifelong impression on me and inspired me to help the cause. 

Frances P. Waggoner, May Crowning, 1947

When Ron and I decided on the Ouija theme, our goal was to create an interactive piece that would engage the viewer and stir emotions - I wanted to illustrate my own version of some of the classic ouiji board elements, while Ron used his hand lettering skills to do all the typography. Together we refined the surface of the plaster bust we were given, with several additional layers of plaster and hours of hand sanding until we had a smooth enough surface to draw on. The end result was an almost ceramic-like finish. for an extra erie surprise, peer through the hole in the hand-made planchette... a ghostly spirit girl is revealed inside the body cavity of the bust. 

This bust will be auctioned off to the highest bidder at:

EYAO 6 - "Creature Feature at The Drive-In,"  February 23, 2013, 

Titmouse Animation Studios, 1121 Seward Street, Hollywood, CA 90038, Los Angeles, California 

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