“400 Years is Enough”
Mixed Media: plaster, paper mache, acrylic, paper, fiber, wood, chain
46” X 20 X 8”
400 Years Is Enough speaks to the origins of the enslavement of an entire group of people. This country has been at this for quite a long time and it’s still going on. We may not be actual slaves, but the effects of post traumatic slave syndrome linger. You know what also lingers? The policies, mindset, economic and educational inequalities not to mention health disparities, unconscious biases and institutional racism are what still holds a whole people at a level unequal to the people that enslaved other human beings. That’s what lingers.
$2,500
“Be Amended”
Mixed Media: canvas, parchment, acrylic, fiber, wood,
30” X 40”
Be Amended is in response to the three fifths compromise and a call to wake up and be a whole person. We, the Black community, have for too long suffered from the Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome that has kept us from being whole. 5/5 whole. I will never again be thought of as three fifths of a human being nor should any other person. Listening to a song by the artist Common entitled It’s Your World sparked the notion for this piece. We ARE the people spoken of in those documents that were part of the creation of this country. The piece of work was so cathartic in so many ways
$5,000
“Black Lives Matter”
Mixed Media: fiber, cardboard, fabric, wood, beads, acrylic
76” X 10 X 12”
Black Lives Matter is a compilation of symbols that have meaning not only for me but for every single person whose life has been affected by the social, justice and life inequities that we see daily. We are not a monolith. We have different perspectives, different, values, different life circumstances and should be considered individually. Yes, we know that all lives matters but it is shown to us every day that Black lives DON’T matter to far too many. Open your heart. Black Lives Matter.
$2,750
“Black Phoenix“
Mixed Media: fiber,cardboard, beads, acrylic, wood
33” X 22 X 22”
The simplest version of the myth of the phoenix is that of a long-lived bird that regenerates or is born again by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Also being associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life rather than just dying and fading away. This was the inspiration for my piece “Black Phoenix”. The communities of Black people have endured many hardships, systemic racism, and trauma, but instead of being destroyed by all that injustice time and time again, what emerges is a better, stronger, smarter, more beautiful rebirth. A transformation. It is not complete until that transformation happens for the whole community. Although it seems as though the drama is never ending for BIPOC, as with the phoenix this community will rise to the beautiful resilience that lies within.
$2,500
“Broken Promises Dashed Dreams“
Mixed Media: fiber, canvas, acrylic, beads, fabric, wire
33” X 22 X 22”
Broken Promises Dashed Dreams – From the time the others stepped foot on this land claiming it as their own, inequities existed. This piece represents the broken promises of the treaties, emancipation, fair immigration, and protection all crushed by the white hand .
$1,200
“See Me”
Mixed Media: canvas, fiber, fabric, styrofoam, resin
24” X 21″ X 3”
The number does not matter. The reason does. For more than four centuries Black men and women have been killed without consequence by those that were supposed to protect and serve. The reason is the melanin, the color of their skin. These Black human beings were not seen as human beings because they didn’t look like the law enforcement hired to protect and serve. They felt it was justifiable to treat these Black human beings like rabid dogs without regard to their humanity instead of protecting and serving. These Black human beings were not seen. All that is asked is that you, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, society, see them as human beings. Just see me.
$1,200
“Tears of Black Folk”
Mixed Media: paperclay, plaster, fiber, wood, fabric, wire
57” X 21″ X 15”
Black folk have been shedding unprovoked tears for over 400 years. Who wouldn’t shed tears after being ripped from the only land and home they knew? Who wouldn’t shed tears after being forced to change their identity, and work for no pay from sunup to sundown? Who wouldn’t shed tears being raped and then having your child ripped away from you? Who wouldn’t shed tears knowing you cannot protect your family because they were sold down the road? Who wouldn’t shed tears knowing laws were specifically created to “keep you in your place?” Who wouldn’t shed tears when the country you fought for doesn’t love you back? Who wouldn’t shed tears when your very skin closes doors to every path to success? I could go on and on but I think you understand why these tears are so large and never ending.
$2,500
“Unequal Justice”
Mixed Media: PVC, wood, wire, fiber, metal
53” X 20″ X 18”
Over and over and over again we see inequality in this country. From structural racism, laws specifically designed to keep a group of people from attaining “The American Dream” to the disparities for healthcare, education, and employment, we see the effects of post traumatic slave syndrome. For decades the people in power buried their heads in the sand when it came to the treatment of those that didn’t look like them. They buried their heads in the sand if unequal justice didn’t affect them directly. They buried their heads in the sand and denied that it was going on. Unequal justice is a reality for so many. We can never be the country we aspire to be if we don’t make the effort to change this dark reality.
$2,000