the story of sue nami

in the days following the fukushima nuclear disaster, i was asked to make a poster for the devo show at the warfield theatre in san francisco. the image was a japanese girl, wearing a nuclear t shirt, with the kanji character for earth tattooed on her shoulder. she was dead. i called her sue nami. and much to my surprise, the band liked it. read captions below the photos for the rest of the story.

we hand silkscreened a couple hundred posters for the event.

at chuck's studio in oakland

we printed a few copies on found copper, old posters and a discarded street sign.

a few days before the gig, i put some posters up on the streets.

and after the gig, a big hand painted piece appeared in west oakland.

and google street view captured it.

but then someone stole it...

so i put another one up in san francisco.

but someone painted over it...

so i made a new piece. and put it in a fancy gallery.

and someone bought it.

then i made a stencil on reclaimed redwood... and sent it to a friend.

time passed and the original stencil was framed and sold at a show in an ancient cathedral in bordeaux.

Sue Nami was well represented in the old cathedral.

and finally, after so many sue nami variations, the time came to retire her...
but just when i thought it was over, i got an email from a lovely woman named jenn, who dressed up as sue nami for halloween.

followed by an email, sometime later from a woman named tammie, who did something a little more permanent...

we printed some silkscreen stickers.

the next year, molly and ruby dressed up as sue nami & katrina for halloween.
they made their own shirts with needles and thread.

i photographed ruby and started working on a new piece.

Sue Nami; Harbinger 2014
36" X 48"
Mixed Media

A prominent, albeit young SF collector bought it.

We printed some new stickers

Which became a screen print for an art show back in san francisco.
which came with a poem.

Sue Nami is the calm before the storm.
Mother Nature’s messenger. A Harbinger (of things to come.)
She’s always been here, but she’s rarely seen. She was there at Fukushima.
She held hands with Katrina and skipped along the Levees before they broke.

She might appear just before it happens. Or you might think you hear her. A giggle in the wind.
An empty playground whisper. But when you look again, she’s gone. ∆

More time passed and Sue Nami & Katrina found their way to an abandoned building in the Mission District in San Francisco

And Later emerged, reillustrated as a screen print for Faith No More at another stop in San Francisco, which is where it all began.

More Stickers....

Jermaine held a benefit for Hurricane Harvey victims in Houston and I donated a defaced Sue Nami print, calling out all the recent Hurricanes.

We silkscreened some sweet Sham Wows®. They replace paper towels. Sue continues to represent.

This Is Not A Tree. The Sue Nami Dish Cloth™ from zoltron.

Then one surprise day, renowned designer & doll maker (and my dear friend) Jess Brown showed up with what she called not Sue Nami, but "Sue Nami's Doll"

Sue Nami wasn't done yet... She wanted to become 3D.
So we started the process to bring her to life..

And that's where Sue Nami's Story Ends. For Now....