hopscotch, kriss kross, double dutch the gunshots (2021)

Rhyming chants. Rhythmic Movements. Black Prominence. Double Dutch could have easily become the sixth element of Hip Hop culture. A New York playground game intentionally developed for young black girls, turned into a competitive sport, and became defined by the all female “Fantastic Four.” The double dutch crew would be on the same stage as the breakdancers and MCs on some of the first rap tours. Yet as Hip Hop grew, the female led element was overshadowed and forgotten. Even in the New York streets that birthed the culture, the sport faded away. Crime sparking from the 1980s crack epidemic deterred kids from playing outside.

Ball hair ties are a shared memory of black childhood. Whether or not you wore them, you knew of someone who did. The hair ties have become a symbolic parallel of black youth, often swapped for more formal accessories when reaching adulthood.

A forgotten monument of a remembered time.

Exhibited at "Embodied Knowledge," Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT 

Exhibited at "Welcome to the Afrofuture: The Matrix of Creativity – Where the River Meets the Sea," New Orleans African American Museum, New Orleans, LA

Exhibited at "Roots Run Deep: A Contemporary Survey of African American Hair Culture," Brew House Assoc., Pittsburgh, PA