I saw Bonnie Collura speak today, and it was perfect timing coming out of a crit in which confusion reigned over the twisted and incomprehensible world of TheySaySmall.

She has been applying her "System" in her work for over ten years now, recombining twisted characters (including, in her latest piece, Abraham Lincoln, St. Sebastian, C3P0, and Jesus) according to a color system (abductor red, creator green, martyr yellow, guardian green) and personal set of symbology and references that are interwoven and developed over more than a decade.

She mentioned the "Mom Factor." Every time Bonnie mentions "The System" to her mother, the response is "Oi Vey." But when her Mom enters an exhibit of Bonnie, her response is awe: "Wow, I can't believe my daughter made this." On the other hand, there are the Encylopaedia types who remember which character surfaced when, and have begun to understand the different symbols they represent. She says although she does not want to put it all down in text, because then her works would become "illustrations of that concept or story," she wants to make sure that she hjas both the Mom Factor and the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.

It was nice to see someone who delves all of her work from the source of a crazy story that has no narrative. Sometimes I feel that it is too easy to just "rehash" theysaysmall in all my work. But it's such a deep well, and it is still so undeveloped, there's so much more to get out of it.

And I don't care if the whole story makes no sense; I just want the individual parts to work on their own. Its Mom Factor.

She also put it this way: you're walking down the street and you see a brown blob. Big Deal. Then you notice it is shimmering, and by the time you are up against it you find that it is actually a mass of brown ants.