the heart knows its own bitterness (Manifest)

Combining sculpture, video, assemblage, and installation, the work is inspired by a series of public shipping manifests filed in New Orleans in 1807-1860, documents that track the arrival of more than 100,000 people sold into slavery. The exhibit embodies the philosophy that remembrance is a form of resistance through its material design, color scheme, and complementing audio elements. The exhibition features four anatomical heart-shaped structures, each crafted with an intricate combination of found objects. The sculptures are coated in coal, and a net-like wire enshrouds each heart. The audio alternates from hypnotic, soul-stirring ambient music to loops of a healthy pulsing heartbeat, to voices that repeatedly said 'lub dub.' The names, ages, and physical traits of the people forced aboard the ships are read aloud in the sound pieces that accompany each sculpture.