What's with all the monkeys?

Customers keep asking me that very question.

It all started when I was 9 and my dad bought me the cutest stuffed animal. He promised to give me one item: it was either the monkey or a fishing pole that I'd been really wanting (yes I am female). As much as I longed for the fishing gear I couldn't help but staring into those beautiful brown plastic eyes.... and opted for my own hairy companion. That's exactly what he became. I named him Chitas and he traveled with me everywhere. While our family was on road trips I'd stick up just the monkey's head and wave his soft hand to our fellow vacationers. (This was before the obligatory safety belts, so me and my sister could be hanging upside down in the the backseat of our dads Saab if we wanted). I was never into dolls so perhaps that's why I became obsessed with the whole primate family. Chimps, lemurs, proboscis monkeys, you name it - I love'em all. Even though Chitas doesn't travel with me anymore, (I'm in my thirties after all), he does wait patiently in my closet. However, I still make make sure to pick up a cool "monkey something" in every country I visit. Some of my favorites are: 1 - The silver warrior with a removable sword in the back that I picked up in a small gift shop right outside the killing fields in Cambodia.

2 - The porcelain pill box I purchased on September 12th in Paris, where I got stranded for 4 days after the Twin Towers collapsed. My naive thought was that the white color would symbolize a peaceful resolution.

3 - The monkey bank which is one of the coolest pieces of contemporary artifacts that I own. I got it at the One of A Kind show in Chicago from the very talented Heather Hug.

Perhaps this is a small explanation to my fixation with monkeys. Since I started silk screening I have created three monkey images:

1 - The Baby Monkey with a moth. What's with the moth? People ask me all the time.... won't have space to share that story right now. Just ask me the next time you see me.

2 - The Top Hat Chimp. The apes are a lot more sophisticated than we give them credit for.

3 - My funny Tarsier. He cracks me up. When I first silk screened this little guy I loved him. He made me smile.

The cool thing is that there are tons of other monkey people out there. From having been a bad name, "monkey" is now a term of endearment many lovers call eachother or their not so hairy children. For those of you who'd rather have a monkey on your chest than or your back, there is an easy way to get your own monkey fix at http://www.evamay.com/tees.html.