“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. ”
For many years I have been unweaving the American flag string by string and reweaving the threads into new compositions that reflect various states of the American experience. This poetic gesture began as an artistic response to social and political polarization and over time has become a highly considered series. In this time of social and political uncertainty, these works show the complexity and delicacy of democracy while attempting to weave new potential into the social fabric of America.
Ongoing project since 2004. Americans flags unwoven string by string and reassembled as two separate flags made only of the vertical (warp) and horizontal (weft) strings respectively. The end of each string is threaded through a needle and pined back into registration.
NEW CENTURY, 2012, 36"x48"
Three unwoven American flags pinned with needles at three different depths, allowing the strings to visually reweave in an increasingly smaller unified area.
WEALTH OF NATIONS, 2010, 22"x34" each
These unwoven strings form a comparative graph of wealth disparity from 1905-2015. It is interesting to note that the height of the disparity in 1929 and 2008 was just about at the same point before a financial crisis occurred. Based on historical trends and human nature, the last 5 years are theoretical projection.
HERO-HOSTAGE, 2013, 48"X72" each
These words are taken from old Western movie titles, iconic words from the American narrative. As the growing social, political and economic polarization has unfolded - culminating in the 2016 election - it has felt like a slow motion unraveling.These works attempt to understand the rift in the mythic social fabric of American society, when heroes have been hard to find and many feel hostage to unseen forces of economics, race, gender, class and outdated ideologies.