Courtesy the artist

Armstrong's rubber-necked smoke-exhaust system

Courtesy Marlborough Gallery

L.C. Armstrong, "Pale Male over Pink Pastorale (triptych)" (2006). Acrylic, bomb fuse and resin on linen on birch panel, each panel 60 x 48 inches.

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In her current work, most recently seen in a solo show at Marlborough 57th Street in April, Armstrong employs the fuses as flower stems, adding an unexpected, violent edge to her otherwise dreamy, psychedelic images.

Armstrong told ARTINFO how she keeps the fire marshal away from her DUMBO studio.

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Burning the bomb fuses I use in my work creates a lot of residual smoke. But art buildings are getting fancier and fancier, and my studio has such sensitive smoke detectors that I was afraid I would set off the fire alarms.

So I bought a Kemper smoke exhaust machine designed for interior welding. It's from Germany, but I found mine on the Internet, offered by a company in Georgia. It’s about the most expensive thing I ever bought: $4,500! It has a 200-pound charcoal filter and a neck that swivels so I can follow along as I burn the bomb fuse. It's so funny looking, I’m sure SpongeBob or Wile E. Coyote would approve.

It's the best thing I ever bought for the studio, though, good for the environment and good for me. Even though I had a special room with an exhaust fan and worked with an outside air source before, I was still getting some smoke smell. Now the air smells good and I can bomb-fuse any time I need to.