Painting Series
The inversion of the known
These paintings are revolutions of perspective, through the process of making them, their subject changed from reflecting interior states of isolation to framing connections within communal exchanges. Made from 2016-2018, these paintings were supported by the NJ Council for the Arts and the Mondriaan Fonds.
"The history of visuality linked to the prison is also a main reinforcement of the institution of the prison as a naturalized part of our social landscape. The history of film has always been wedded to the representation of incarceration. Thomas Edison's first films (dating back to the 1901 reenactment presented as newsreel, Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison) included footage of the darkest recesses of the prison. Thus, the prison is wedded to our experience of visuality, creating also a sense of its permanence as an institution."-quoted in "Are Prisons Obsolete?"by Angela Davis
Gina Dent
Cultural Critic
Transversal clay drawing series
These works are trans-historical reflections on the prison justice system as it began in the Netherlands in the 17th century and has now taken shape in the United States. Made in the fall of 2016, this work was supported by the NJ Council for the Arts.