Listen or your tongue will make you deaf
A traditional proverb as translated from The Cherokee Nation
Proverbs reveal mysteries about ourselves. This proverb, as title, captures this country’s moment in history. It’s obvious to me that we have lost the grounding in our own human nature and in physical nature itself. This is the second in a series investigating these two relationships through a connection between our senses and a natural form.
Listening is the focus here. We each experience the world through a lens of biased personal perception. Through this artwork, I hope that a beautiful “listening rock” may provide an entry through which we can investigate these perceptions. Are we listening to each other? …to ourselves?…to what nature is telling us? …or is nature listening to us?
My sculptural mural uses the controversial 2020 US census as the departure point. Each form is colored to identify the racial data collected. Creating 206 parts over 2 years, I proportioned the census data to visually show who we are as a nation: 57.8% White, 18.9% Hispanics, 12.4% Blacks, 6.3% Asians and 2% Native and Islander Nations. 5% are mixed race people. I have taken license to exaggerate some colors to capture an essence of race or personal orientation - and omitted others to reflect those who were left out of the census altogether. Each of the mural parts are unique and one-of-a-kind but made from the same source.
To make these ceramic and resin parts unique, each was generated from a form I carved in stone and molded. That first mold was then cast several times, each resulting cast was altered and then molded again. Liquid clay slip was used to pour into 5 part rigid plaster molds, as well as press molded using small slabs of moist clay forming each part. Incorporating different types of clay, each was dried over several weeks, glazed and fired in an oxidation kiln. Transparent 2-part polyester resin was mixed, tinted, poured and cured in flexible platinum silicone molds over a 24-hour period forming the balance of parts. This work was made to premiere during the 2024 series of 10th anniversary exhibitions of Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver.
