PART I. SUGAR
“In the nonconsensual collaboration with inhuman materiality as both a property of energy and in concert with other energy sources (sugar, coal, mineral), slavery weaponised the redistribution of energy around the globe through the flesh of black bodies. [...] the human cost was the immense physical and psychological toll on the enslaved. Their lives were embedded in every coin that changed hands, each spoonful of sugar stirred into a cup of tea, each puff of a pipe, and every bite of rice." - Kathryn Yusoff, A Billion Black Anthropocenes or none
The following work uses granulated cane sugar as the primary medium.
I.I GRANULE
THE COUNT, 2021, is a short piece of performance art.
In the video I count 745 granules of sugar.
745 granules of energy.
745 representations of lives forgotten.
745 slaves on the Kellitt’s Plantation.
This amounts to a teaspoon of sugar which I use to make a single cup of tea.
The sweetness on the tongue, brought forth by centuries of pain.
I.II LIQUID/SOLID
Objects, glassware, trinkets, jewellery and photos were always important in my house. They were the prized possessions passed down from generations or collected with the intention of being passed down. They were the things of real value to us.
Families are complex and complicated. Death is complex and complicated.
When my grandma died, our family nearly fell apart. When my mom did, it did.
HEIRLOOMS, is a small trinket jar cast in granulated cane sugar and pine resin. Filled with all my heirlooms. Jewellery inherited from my mother and grandma.
My prized possessions in a delicate cage.
HEIRLOOMS, 2022
10cm x 8cm x 8cm
Granulated Cane Sugar, Pine Resin, Silver Jewellery
WE CAN TALK WHILE WE PLAY, is an interactive piece that invites the audience to engage in a game of dominoes, using the set cast in granulated cane sugar. This set, is an integral part of the piece, designed to be both ornament and single use functional object.
During the game, the audience is encouraged to engage in conversation with me about whatever comes to mind, mimicking the experience I had growing up playing the game with my mother.
It was over the dominoes table that my mother and I first spoke about her cancer diagnosis.
WE CAN TALK WHILE WE PLAY, 2022
A Full Dominoes Set
Granulated Cane Sugar, Pine Resin, Chrome Powder
I.IIi weight
INSTRUMENTS OF PUNISHMENT AND DISGRACE is a series of soft sculpture that use sugar as the primary medium - in this case the granule is used collectively to form a mass of weight, symbolic of the instruments of punishment and disgrace that the enslaved had to endure. Visual inspiration is taken from these forms, which each a representation of an object that exists historically.
Each soft sculpture is designed to create a paradox between ideas of comfort and discomfort.
COMFORT IN DISCOMFORT, 2022
Weighted Collar
Granulated Cane Sugar (1KG - Equivalent weight to an 18th century child's ankle shackle), Osnaburg Cotton
GONE TO MARKET, 2022
Weighted Bags
Granulated Cane Sugar (1KG x2 - Equivalent weight to an 18th century child's ankle shackle), Osnaburg Cotton
WEIGH ME DOWN, 2022
Weighted Collar
Granulated Cane Sugar (9KG - Equivalent weight to an 18th century adults's ankle shackle, iron ball and chain), Wool, Mountboard, Spandex