CONTEMPORARY RUIN CLOSING Talk

During the my Closing talk fo rthe show, I discussed  "Washington Square" and how it was built from a paper collage that uses a map of Philadelphia's Washington Square Park to frame an idealized greenspace for Black leisure. In the original collage I use images I took of my grandmother on a visit to Longwood Gardens. There, she told me that growing up in Philly, Black people were not allowed to hang out at Washington Square Park. The sculpture is an iteration of this work engraved in wood and glass mirror for viewers to reimagine themselves in such a place. I think of this work as part performance. Every March and April the cherry blossoms bloom all over the city and I go out to cut blossoms and add them to the mirror. Over time the flowers decay and distribute themselves over the floor signifying the passing of the season and the limitations of access.