Make sure they hearin' ya

The exhibition Make Sure They Hearin’ Ya, checks off as many boxes as I do on an application. The two-gallery installation explores a duality of life as experienced through my eyes as a multiracial American. Through sculpture and sound, I created a socially conscious experience that questions the current state of affairs in this United States. Bringing sounds and styles of the past into our current day, the work exposes the actuality of distance and improvement from the civil rights era isn’t as far away as we are taught to believe. Each of the galleries within the exhibition contains many layers of information and commentary on art and craft, form and function, and racism. In one gallery, a series of starkly lit structures commonly seen in the landscape transport the viewer outside. The installation speaks to concepts of power: systems of power, the mechanism by which it operates, and who can possess it. In the adjacent gallery, familiar forms that are found in a living room setting, create a warm and inviting experience. In both galleries, even the littlest of details is not overlooked and serves a purpose. Different degrees of craft and materials are used, not only to showcase my range of skill sets, but also to further the intended exploration. The works in the exhibition functions as symbols and stand-ins for conversations on dualities and phenomena of black and white, public and private, hearing and listening, and prejudice. For every question that the installation raises, it also provides spaces in which those questions can be pondered or discussed within the context of the sculptures.