By Myself (2021-2022)
Buried in the mattress, beneath the M train, car horns, and cat calls.
Consciousness pulled me from my reprieve.
My will, too weak to wield my body weight.
I wait.
Screeching metal, temporary refractions, covered again by a blanket of shadows.
Dishes clink, a phone rings.
There's a knock on my door,
footsteps retreat.
Screeching metal, a disruptive glimmer, darkness tucks me in tighter.
Abrasive voices compete with one another,
silenced by the slam of the front door and lock clicking into place.
I take my first breath of the day.
I gather my strength
and the hair I shed in my sleep
from my pillows and between the sheets.
I suppress my stomach’s cries but tend to my split lip.
Screeching metal, sunlight dappled in the shade during a heat wave.
Peace approaches, loneliness arrives.
In its physical form, By Myself is a large-scale windchime. The photos are printed on charmeuse with attached chimes hung from a suspended ring. A fan blows on the work from a distance, so the prints are in constant motion and play their own music.