After several years of explosive growth, the hedge fund industry has achieved a size of well over a trillion dollars under management. Not surprisingly, the size of the industry and its potential impact on financial markets has led to heightened regulatory interest in the management and structure of these funds and in their investment and risk-related choices. This is manifest, for instance, in recent legislation to achieve greater transparency of hedge funds and enhanced regulation by the SEC.
My work explores body adornment, consumable artwork, and desire. Narrative stories influence the works, recreating aspects of past personal experience as a woman affected battles with Anorexia and Bulimia. In this thesis work, I utilized techniques that I practice in creating kiln formed glass to make works with materials that mimic it: hard candy and sugar. At first glance, it is hard to recognize what some sculptural components are actually made of.
The ongoing financial crisis and the resultant freezing of credit markets suddenly emphasized the advantage of having a stockpile of cash and liquid investments for firm operations and its performance. The credit crisis has also had a significant effect on how investors view and value corporate holdings of cash and liquid investments. For example, a recent article in The Economist (Nov 20, 2008) states "How times change. Not long ago companies with cash piles were assailed by corporate activists to return money to shareholders. Nowadays it is only a slight exaggeration to say that the more cash that investors see in a firms coffers, the happier they are."
