“Not a Drill” explores our increased exposure to gun violence and the alarming lack of measurable gun reform in the United States. It is obvious that the agencies and systems meant to protect us are failing.
As an artist and mother of two school-aged children, I feel compelled to respond to these atrocities and lack of action because gun violence devastates all people at personal, community, state, and national levels. This project opens up visceral conversations about the fragility of life. In doing so, I arm individuals and communities with resources, solidarity, and a voice, rather than weapons.
Iconographically, the work appropriates the American flag and that image continues to naturally deepen and evolve as I install or employ it over time. For example, “Flesh and Blood,” pictures my elementary-aged children wrapped in the American flag printed on mylar emergency blankets. These thin blankets suggest the frailty and instability currently found in school protection and asks, “Who will protect America’s children?” “
“Not a Drill,” enhances the visibility of contemporary feminist positions addressing the intersections of motherhood and socially engaged art and emphasizes the blurring of the private and public spheres by humanizing the overwhelming gun violence data by directly featuring children in the work. Domestic life and political life are now intertwined.
Related Press: Duck Blind
View installation:
grayDuck Gallery
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Austin Peay State University
