Equal but Different (2020), steel

Statement for the exhibition at the Wright Gallery, “Persist, Resist, Coexist” a showcase of female faculty members of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment of the US Constitution:

Equal but Different is about accepting the differences of all people, genders, and races. This work was created by utilizing statistical data of the ethnicity and gender of the members of the 116th Congress (the most diverse in US history) and custom code to generate a drawing. I refined and manipulated the drawing for water-jet cutting and hand-forged the steel to form baskets -- a celebration of the progress women have made in the last century. The negative space is symbolic of the work yet to be done for women and people of color to be recognized, treated equally, and ultimately celebrated as valuable individuals in our society. We need more women and diversity in leadership, and all of our differences to be respected by society. I am influenced by and have the deepest respect for trailblazing blacksmith Elizabeth Brim. Brim has been celebrating femininity through blacksmithing for decades. Her mother did not think of blacksmithing as a very “ladylike” trade, so she has always worked iron while wearing a strand of pearls. Her delicate ironwork speaks to resilience and strength with a balance of feminine sentiment.