There is Only After

In this group exhibition I presented two works, We are the Safety Net and Uneven. Together they reflect on the porosity of social organization. Life under capitalism is precarious and often creates tenuous relationships between people and groups – boss to worker, neighbor to neighbor, community to community – all vying for space and seemingly constrained resources. But every so often the veil of capitalist realism is lifted, and competition transforms into collaboration. What happens when we shake hands with strangers and trust our loose ties?

Photography credit: Ryan Van Der Hout

We are the Safety Net

2023
192’’ x 130’’ x 10’’
Ceramic imprints from The New School community handshakes, netting, trapeze bars, cables, hardware, gold leaf, paint, and blank legal paper

"We are the Safety Net" reflects the historic labor strike at The New School, one of the longest in higher education, which took place while I was pursuing my MFA at the university. The piece is self-balancing—if one element is removed, it all comes crashing down. Its precarious nature mirrors life under capitalism, where groups tenuously compete for seemingly limited resources. "We are the Safety Net" also serves as an archive of loose ties. The ceramic sculptures, whose collective weight maintains the tension of the net, were created by community members at The New School, who shook hands with a clay slab between them.

Uneven

2023
10” x 31” x 6”
Steel, plaster

This work explores the various ways we communicate ideology in society. It was conceptualized around the time Trump followers were controversially using a one-finger salute at the former president's rallies. In the sculpture, this hand gesture is paired with a raised fist, a symbol of solidarity used by various leftist movements, notably socialism, Black Lives Matter, and unionization. The work contemplates how the difference in a few fingers can represent radically polarizing ideologies.