End the Cycle/ Rest in Power

Nov 2021, screenprints wheat-pasted adjacent to the Black Lives Matter Memorial in Rogers Park Chicago

This project centered around themes of social justice. We knew that ultimately we would be installing our work next to the BLM Memorial in Rogers Park, so our work was site-specific.

Through my two pieces that would be pasted in a checkered sequence, I aimed to explore ideas of repetition and cyclical patterns. A metaphor for historical resurfacing and repetition is manifested through pattern-making. Violence, racism, and discrimination against black and brown bodies are woven into the fabric of our country. They are materialized in varying ways from origins in slavery to police violence, mass incarceration, economic disparity, among other discriminatory practices. Racism is truly a cycle of this nature, hence the message “End the Cycle.”

Contrasting red/white and blue/white images not only allude to the colors of the American flag but also to two sides of the same coin. “End the Cycle” is a call to action while “Rest in Power” gives honor and remembrance to the progress we have made and to the people who have fought for equity and justice.

The optical illusion of two faces directed towards each other is complimented by the inverse; a vase of flowers. The profiles of the figures call attention to the human lives that have been lost or affected, looking each other in the eye in acknowledgment. The vase of flowers is an obvious symbol of grief and remembrance for all that has been endured.

I recognize my privilege in being a white person in conversation with these issues. My intention is never to speak over a group of people, but to join in solidarity the fight against racism.