These wings were originally commissioned by Maximos Demosthenes Koukos, for the music video of a song he wrote called “Pinion Queen.” The story is something like this: An artist has become stuck; he cannot continue, cannot find inspiration—it’s writer’s block on a cosmic level. From her own universe, The Pinion Queen appears and wraps her massive wings around him, sheltering him from his own darkness, bringing him back to life.

So…the music video didn’t happen…which is not to say that it won’t. But in any case, I took the wings out for a photo shoot and also entered it into a wearable art competition, Art Night of the Living Art: An Art After Dark Extravaganza 2020, at the Oceanside Museum of Art. I took home the grand prize and won myself a solo exhibit at the museum! Watch the recap here:

The wings are made of foam. Each feather was hand-cut and hand-shaped. The skeleton is made of PVC and PEX pipes, and a wood+yoga mat harness. To my knowledge, these are the largest flappable wearable wings in the world (at least at the time of completion).

The wings of the Pinion Queen made a reprise at my art installation, Cuckoo: The Orphan, at the Oceanside Museum of Art 2021-2022.

You can listen to the instrumental version of the song “Pinion Queen” here: https://koukos.bandcamp.com/track/07-the-pinion-queen