40 Burnt Books
Forty burnt books are presented on custom-made steel brackets jutting out from the wall at an angle similar to lecterns or rare book displays. They represent today’s undervaluing of education, the shift from analog to digital technologies, the fraught contextualization of our histories, and the destruction of knowledge. Book banning is on the rise while public school funding in the South suffers in divided districts still in recovery after years of pandemic-restricted teaching. The tattered and charred pages are a visual representation of years of violence that are invisible but nevertheless have real consequences to our communities and our children’s futures. 40 Burnt Books also reference the advent of the internet and the reduced reliance on books to transmit knowledge, for good or ill. Our communities believe in what is presented online through the algorithms of social media and often biased sources disseminated widely. How can we believe in a single truth when there are thousands of versions from which to choose? Burning books is equivalent to censorship and a fear of spreading knowledge. One only burns or bans a book if the content is so offensive or dangerous to those in power. These books were already destined for the landfill, but now act as physical representations of censorship, historical wrongs, and ephemeral violence made real.
Originating from a 2018 salem2salem residency in Salem, Germany and expanded for the 2021 solo exhibition HOME//WORK at the Lauren Rogers Smith Museum in Laurel, MS. Selected in 2022 for the group exhibitions Faculty Exhibition 7 at the Jule Collins Smith Museum, Auburn, AL and Art of the South at Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN. On display at the ROB as part of the 2023 ArtFields competition and exhibition in Lake City, SC from April 19-29, 2023.
Poetry inspired by the piece by Auburn students.
Thoughts & Prayers
Frühlingsglaube
Frühlingsglaube roughly translates to a belief or hope felt as a result of spring. The title is from a romantic Friedrich Uhland poem of the same name, describing the fleeting beauty of spring and the hope that springs from the changing of the seasons. The spring of 2021 was an opening up of human activity after long lockdowns and pandemic restrictions. The beauty of blossoming trees is ephemeral and is all the more beautiful for its fleeting nature. The long dark pandemic winter and the overarching sense of doom led to all the more precious awakening. The use of red and abstract petal or wing forms as installed in a former slaughterhouse visually connects to flayed skin, bloody edges, as well as organic floral edges as found on a crepe myrtle or a linden tree. Caught in suspended animation, Frühlingsglaube captures the moment of transformation from life to death.
20 (of a projected 40) Wreaths
20 (of a projected 40 Wreaths), range from 7"-16" circumferences, cast iron, 2015
There is a worldwide tradition of creating wreaths as decoration or in celebration of a festival or holiday. In American, this is normally unpaid women’s work that beautifies her domestic environment. My interest in the form began when visiting Latvia in response to their midsummer wreath-making, rooted in pagan traditions celebrating Ligo. Men weave wreaths of oak leaves while women create wreaths of wildflowers and assorted greenery. These wreaths employ texture as a way of visually representing the fossils our culture creates. Each wreath has an organic and an inorganic texture: bubble wrap and wheat, sequined fabric and acorn caps, smartphones and ferns, aluminum foil and concentric spiral shells. The first twenty small scale wreaths were cast at the 2015 Sculpture Trails Iron Workshop and the subsequent large scale public works The Eudora Welty Wreath (2016) and Trails Wreath (2018) were also cast at Sculpture Trails.
STACK I: CORROSION
Stack I: Corrosion consists of a 40 inch tall stack of handmade black denim paper underneath a glass bottle full of bleach. When exhibited, the bleach continuously drips and transforms the stack. Over time, the stack will slowly become white and erode in a chemical reaction of the paper to corrosive bleach. Stack I: Corrosion is a column of labor that is subsequently destroyed slowly through its own exhibition and witnessing. Historical references can be made to the ‘one drop rule,’ the bleaching of skin, the use of a wholly American material (denim), and when shown with Stack II, is visually reminiscent of the Twin Towers. Stack I: Corrosion is a container of action, reaction, and decay that reflects upon contemporary American culture and the negative effects of white supremacy.