Afro Pick : Bantu Knots & The Underground Railroad

The afro pick design draws from picks 5,500 years ago first carved in wood and stone from Africa and adds in teeth made from metal, a design patented in the U.S. in the late 60’s. Lastly, the pick incorporates braiding as a way of survival and knowledge share. Here it shows the route to freedom from the south to NY and up to Canada.

Fragments

Using a fragment of an African American face is about sculpting a person who looks like me; a person not often seen in museums or public art. I sculpt the piece, create a mold, and lastly cast the work. Then, it’s chiseled, sawed, and sanded to give it a fragmented look. This process symbolizes the collective trauma of African Americans, and the resulting pieces are often installed in places of pain to offer healing.

African American Marbleization - An Act of Civil Disobedience is a sculpture series that honors people of color and the objects they use. The term Marbleization is rooted in using materials often deemed “credible” in the art world such as marble and porcelain.