It was around a two years ago that I had an idea.
Since George Floyd’s death, through zoom, I have been meeting with an amazing group of people - half black and half white. We uncover, learn, and see the racism of this country. It started with over 300 people, and had 40 or so for a while, then we were a group of 25 or so committed friends. And now we are expanding.
A year ago (June 2023) I met my friends in real life in DC. We walked for Missing and Black, and visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture. People came from all corners of the continental United States to eat, connect and live together for a few days. Something was changing within us. It was no longer about meeting every other week and reading books. We started stepping up and speaking more. Each of us in our own ways. Being an artist, I realized if I was going to do it for real, it would be through art.
I visited the Smithsonian Money exhibit and the National Museum of the American Indian on my own. I knew it was part of what the work was going to be about. Enslaved people were used to make the money needed for this country to be independant from Great Britan. The more sugar needed… the more were enslaved. So currency and how it is gets manifested was something I needed to see. It is the metaphor for what we value. At the National Museum of the American Indian, I learned that our nation was always intended to exist alongside the Native Americans. It is in the contract between the Pilgrims and American Indians. There were founding members of our nation that fought vehemently to honor that contract.
It needed to be white. I am white. I wanted to connect with the Earth. I wanted to have a dialog with people about the Earth we walk on. It needed to be able to morph. Elements were to be created, used in one image, and then reused in another way, like water. The final product could not be owned as an object. It needed to reference cross stitch. It needed to be big, I wanted to engage hills. A sort of molded stepping stone was the starting idea.
This project is different than anything I have done before. Connecting with people has been a magical part of this. I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t know how to create it.
I was at Charlotte’s opening (she was still alive) and saw two Makers (Erin and Mel) that I love bumping into. I asked their advise on getting a 3d printer to make these stepping stones, Erin said no… what I needed to do was cast resin. He grasped the idea immediately just by eavesdropping my conversation with Mel. So months later, the tiles were developed with my Maker friends, and I learned to make a mold in their garage. I have been casting the TILES ever since.
