Works about Statistics of Inequality

In my newer work, I explore the visual and symbolic possibilities of rust on fabric. The subject of these new works is quantitative information about systemic inequalities such as home ownership rates, life expectancy, and wealth disparities. Through vat dyeing, printing, and painting with rust, I transform fabric and use it as the primary component of these pieces. By contrasting the rusted fabric with fine white linens, the pieces reflect the stark discrepancies for rich and poor, black and white people in our country. The pieces take data out of its typical context and offer a new opportunity to confront and reflect on its implications. Through my art, I hope to spark conversations and inspire others toward positive social change.

Rust on Life Expectancy, 24 x 31 2024

Rust on Wealth, 24 x 31 2024

Rust on Homeownership, 24 x 31 2024

A Stain on our Cities

My current work synthesizes years of artistic exploration in many mediums. It incorporates my background studying and working in urban environments and for social justice.

I started to explore connections between abstract ideas, art making processes and visual language. I was stymied by the limitations of my most familiar mediums of paint, collage and encaustic. Instead, I found that the layering and stitching of fabric was far more effective at communicating these complex ideas visually. Opaque fabric, transparent silk, thread variations, and machine and hand stitching worked well to represent and map the layered complexity of urban development, which I then augmented with paint and printmaking.

I started with works about our government’s racist use of redlining in places where I had lived. With a foundation of personal connection to the cities, and throughout my slow and tactile artistic process, I was able to consider deeply the profound effects of redlining on a block-by-block basis. The resulting pieces reflect how this process, which began in the 1930’s, resulted in isolating and impoverishing minority communities. Ideas about race, class, entitlement, and privilege that many of us no longer believe, have shaped our built environment in ways that continue to influence the distribution of wealth and opportunities in our society.

However, redlining was not an isolated historic anomaly. Additional research prepared me to tell a more complete story in my subsequent work about past and present government practices that reinforce racial segregation. I adjusted scale, specific materials and methods of application to address different parts of this story. These newer works forego geographical accuracy to communicate the universality of racist practices of legal segregation. These practices imposed and continue to impose often insurmountable obstacles to many people of color in their efforts to own property, build generational wealth, and experience the healthy and safe quality of life that so many white urban and suburban residents enjoyed.