Thrown stones at a brick home (2023)

I was taught to always present the illusion of stability, whether that be familial, financial, or emotional. Even the structure of my childhood home—a two story brick front house—was meant to convey this façade. The instability occurring behind that brick front can be analogized with the destruction which came with the devastating earthquake that shook Haiti in 2010. The construction of Haitian buildings were solely made of concrete, a material associated with solidity; however, the basics of building on earthquake zones require supplemental armatures.

In order for a concrete building to handle its own weight (compression), as well as lateral forces (tension), the concrete must be reinforced with steel bars. The steel can handle the tension while the concrete can handle the compression.

Jim Gunshinan | KQED

A family, like a home, cannot be securely built up a single force. It is a multi-part system that needs support and transparency to thrive.

There is a thin line between security and seclusion. Growing up in an Afro-Caribbean authoritarian household in West Virginia came with multiple layers of isolation and exposed demographic differences (i.e. paternal dictatorship & disconnect, alternative “Black experiences,” etc..).

Walls not only keep people out, but keep people in. My glass house is made of bricks.

Exhibited at Homecoming: Artists Working At Sotheby’s, Sotheby’s, New York, NY