MADE THE USA is an immersive exhibition that brings the series MADE THE USA & RESILIENCE together that ask viewers to consider what takes root in a nation and what grows from those roots. It includes a video, sound and smell. The video ties the exhibition together by asking a question.
MADE THE USA consists of five monumental cross-stitch tapestries depicting crops that helped build the United States. The work examines the contradiction that the wealth generated by these crops helped make American independence possible while also depending on systems of enslavement and exploitation. The installation asks viewers to confront difficult questions about national history:
What does it mean to celebrate 250 years of the United States?
What grows from dehumanization?
How do we move forward?
RESILIENCE offers a response through the image of a dandelion growing through asphalt. The dandelion becomes a symbol of persistence, survival, and hope—the ability to take root and move toward light despite difficult conditions.
Together, the two works invite reflection on both historical truth and collective possibility. The exhibition encourages viewers to acknowledge the nation's roots while considering a future built through resilience, community, and honest engagement with the past.
The video concludes with the central question:
"What will we grow from here?"
This ties the two installations together—linking the historical roots explored in MADE THE USA with the hopeful resilience represented by the dandelion.
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