Short-handled garden hoes are symbols of oppression and control over the body. In response, I had the object appear stooped over, contorted, and rendered in glass, making it useless and fragile.
These tools were outlawed in commercial agriculture in 1975.
My interest in the history of cotton and the various possibilities of working with it is personal and universal. Personally, cotton represents my heritage and my family roots. Culturally, cotton is a common link of our collective American story. Conversely, it also represents a symbol of oppression due to its history of violence and exploitation in the US stemming from its economic significance worldwide.
The work in this exhibition expresses the connection between the body and the cotton fields, with each piece representing the physical toll of labor on the body and spirit to reveal its stress, strain, strength, and resilience.
