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Suspish, 2024

Suspish is a local legend in Eugene. As our kids were growing up, Suspish’s art was a perpetual family scavenger hunt - we were always on the lookout for the next iteration. Sometimes they were further afield, we spotted one in Portland once. Michelle even spotted a Suspish sticker in Eureka, CA

Suspish’s public works are ephemeral. As uncommissioned street art, the pieces were part of an ongoing cat and mouse game between Suspish and public officials. This was part of the fun in finding them - you had captured a fleeting moment in time. But we felt that it would be nice if there were a home for Suspish’s work that created the permanence it deserved. We bought an old set of gym lockers from BRING, a local hub for recycled materials. The concept was a classic suspish fish across the front.

Through an intermediary, we got in touch. Suspish was intrigued, we were told, but there were conditions. Primarily, no one could be home when the work was completed. Maintaining pseudonymity was paramount.

Months passed. It was hard to arrange a day where there would be no one on the property, because there are multiple houses, plus various contract workers for the vineyards, gardens, etc. One weekend, the stars aligned where everyone living on the property was going to be off-site, and no vineyard work was planned. I emailed the intermediary to say “everyone will be gone this weekend.” Crickets. The thought crossed my mind that emailing a stranger to let them know that the property would be completely vacant may not have been the wisest move. Oh well, we tried, I thought. I left the lockers on a pallet in the barn.

We returned home that Sunday completely unaware that a masterpiece awaited us. That evening, I decided to head down to the barn to take the tractor out for a little farm work. As the lockers came into view I realized that Suspish had in fact paid us a visit that weekend. Not only did we get the signature Suspish on the front, but there was a bonus piece on the back! We were giddy.

The lockers are part of the Chaos permanent collection. Sushpish’s work will live here untouched for as long as we own the property.