I HIT MORE THAN I MISSED (edition 1/2)

Cast plaster (UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN INSTITUTE OF HUMANITIES, ANN ARBOR, MI)

This installation uses the symbolism of the clay pigeon often used for trap shooting. In trap shooting, a live bird would be released from the trap to be tracked and taken down by the shooter. The use of clay pigeons began after the use of real pigeons stopped. The colors of the clay pigeons are usually bright, so they stand out in any environment, the most common being orange and black on the bottom. I wanted to replicate this for many reasons. First, the neighborhood I was raised in felt like a trap because of redlining (a discriminatory practice of denying services to residents of certain areas based on their race or ethnicity), with only a few being able to traverse the obstacles set in place. Additionally, the common colors of orange and black on the bottom were a perpetual reminder of the mass incarceration of those who look like me, many of whom are unjustly imprisoned and completely marginalized once released. Finally, in the sport of trap shooting, a hit is often called a “kill” and a miss is referred to as a “bird away.” The machine that now launches the clay pigeon is still called the “trap.”

 Trap -

noun

• a device or enclosure designed to catch and retain animals, typically by allowing entry but not exit or by catching hold of a part of the body.

• a situation in which people lie in wait to make a surprise attack.

A PERILOUS PERCH

Wood, chicken wire, American flags, pigeon spikes (UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN INSTITUTE OF HUMANITIES, ANN ARBOR, MI)

This installation uses the symbolism of the coop to communicate the small, rigid, and unwelcoming space that most Black men occupy in America. The pigeon spikes are used to convey that uncomfortable station. The advertising for this spike says the pins of the spikes act as a visual physical barrier so the birds can no longer gain access to the ledge to perch on it, moving them on to other more accessible areas.

 Perilous -

adjective

• full of danger or risk.

 Perch -

noun

• a thing on which a bird alights or roosts, typically a branch or a horizontal rod or bar in a birdcage.

• a place where someone or something rests or sits, especially a place that is high or  precarious.

The Convening

drawings printed on 10ft banners (1708 GALLERY, RICHMOND, VA)

Convene -

convened; convening

intransitive verb

: to come together in a body

transitive verb

1: to summon before a tribunal

2: to cause to assemble

The Convening is a set of three graphite drawings of members of my family amalgamated with three different bird species that inhabit the James River environment. The birds are the Osprey, Black Vulture, and Great Blue Heron. My family harkens back to the trade and labor of my enslaved ancestors of the land as the birds speak to the land as well. I imagine these drawings printed on banners 10ft high and hanging in Great Shiplock Park confronting the history and contemporary narratives of the space.

InLight 2021