About

axis mundi: turning point of the world : line through the earth’s center around which the universe revolves

–Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

About Access Mundane

I moved to West Hollywood, CA, in 2001 and began writing about my friends, neighbors, and people I met. In 2007, I started incorporating these notes into my artwork, which gave birth to the Access Mundane project.

Over the last decade, I’ve watched Weho transform from what was once a clearly defined straight versus gay community, into an increasingly indefinable melting pot. Access Mundane offers visitors satirical snapshots of the real people immersed in this continuous social juxtaposition of sexy hipsters and nightlife melding with the unfashionable influx of parents, strollers, and playgrounds.

About Karl Clay

I’m an artist and industrial designer in the aerospace and defense industry. I spend each day in a conservative cube-farm in the South Bay, then return home to the flamboyant gay mecca of Southern California. I married a Hollywood studio exec., and we juggle the demands of raising two young kids within our corporate work schedules. In essence, my life is a collision of social opposites; this may be why I so affectionately identify with, and embrace, this city that is now my home.

About the artwork

Access Mundane originals are produced on acid-free, heavy-weight vellum. I illustrate a mirror image of the layout onto the back of the vellum, then cut it out by hand using an Xacto knife. When the work is complete, it’s flipped over exposing the clean, white side of the vellum, and placed over a dark background.

I frame the works with a 1/8″ lift between the background and the art which creates some really wild shadows when displayed under spotlights. The pieces make a bold statement whether hanging in a home or on a gallery wall.