Known for his found-object sculptures, Ken Dawson Little examines consumerist culture and societal expectations with a sense of material playfulness. He often uses collected or recycled materials in his work such as shoes, belts, and jeans—as “they carry with them a history—both personal and of another time.” At the time of his 1987 FWM residency, Little had already begun working with paper as a sculptural medium.
Bread Couple (Buck and Doe) is a suit and dress pairing constructed entirely of 450 U.S. one-dollar bills. The work appeared as part of Little’s FWM installation Elements of Progress, which presented different stages in an imagined American family’s progression of economic circumstances. “As did people in ancient cultures, we wear our wealth,” the artist observed at the time. While this work represents a time of prosperity, its fragility suggests that this newly-won wealth could be fleeting. Although his choice of using the dollar is loaded with cultural meaning, the outfits themselves are empty containers. Here, Little leaves room for the viewer to consider how the American dream is embodied and performed in daily life.
In working with the FWM Studio, Little conceived another his and hers garment pairing during his residency. Like Bread Couple, Rose and Bud is a related suit and dress, however, their surfaces create a different kind of tension. The artist decorated the entirety of the men’s suit with buttons and the dress with false buttonholes. While this play of crude associations with masculinity and femininity teases a sexual encounter, Little’s comic eroticism remains in suspension.
