Hi all. I have been working hard for a couple weeks now on a submission for Easton, Maryland (USA)’s Gateway Sculpture project. A 4-sided obelisk is to be erected featuring art from 4 Maryland artists printed on 5x25’ panels of LEXAN. The artwork is supposed to follow a theme of Maryland water/riverfront life and/or Essex itself. Mine features a Baltimore checkerspot coming in for a landing on a Black-eyed Susan (the MD state flower) whose petals are made in he map outline of Essex. The sun peeks out from clouds through which a skipjack (MD state boat) trawls. A kayaker paddles below.
One thing I’ll mention here that I’m not making a point of in my submission, because I don’t feel it’s the forum for an agenda of mine, is that I very deliberately make the kayaker, who represents a generic “outdoors-person,” non-white and most probably non-male. The PFD hides other gender cues, and the figure could be either a woman, long-haired man, or any other gender. Studying and working in wildlife biology, the stereotype of activities like kayaking, canoeing, boating, hiking, camping, and hunting as white male pursuits was pervasive. I therefore sought to normalize one not meeting those criteria by placing such a person in my artwork, which, if chosen, has the potential to be seen by 35,000 people daily. Fingers crossed!
