Randy Twaddle’s charcoal drawings depict curled slips of paper like those found inside fortune cookies. But the artist’s messages don’t predict long life, journeys or happiness; their wisdom comes from common phrases, subversively rearranged. The list began when Twaddle wrote “The Vandellas and Martha” in a sketchbook. He’s recently added the works Determined and Bound, Destroy and Search and The Beanstalk and Jack. Twaddle’s deft wordplay turns our expectations, and well-known phrases, on their heads.
This article appears in Jan 23-29, 2003.