Process

The Surgical Glove of Dr. Michael De Bakey

1987
Assemblage with latex glove
20 x 11 x 6 inches
Collection of Judy Youens

The doctor in the title is the famous heart surgeon, Dr. Michael De Bakey. An intern friend of mine was working under De Bakey at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston, and managed to swipe several sets of disposable latex gloves specially fitted for the famed heart specialist. Each glove even bore a stamp saying so. It wasn’t entirely my intention but seemed fitting when Jana Vander Lee stated in The October, 1988 Houston Arts magazine: This sculpture “exemplifies the awesome power of human touch and the medical industrialization of health care.”