Black Forest Library (Special Project) at 1-54 New York May 13–17
Black Forest Library (Special Project) at 1-54 New York May 13–17
Tree Grills
2025
Tree Grills
2025
Silver
2025
Silver
Commissioned by Dutch Invertuals for Objects of Exchange at Dutch Design Week
My "Object of Exchange" is a top teeth mouth grill that spells the word “trees” in cursive. Tree Grills conveys 400 years of “exchange” between Amsterdam and New York City (fka New Amsterdam), tracing the line from enslaved Africans, who braided their lineages into their hair, to their descendants who've woven their heritages into the social fabrics of the United States and abroad.
This work stems from Black Forest, my initiative to plant over 40,000 trees for Black lives across all 50 states. Having so far planted over 600 trees with communities in 9 cities across 8 states, I'm inspired by language from tree infrastructure and Black culture.
Tree grates (aka tree grills), metal plates with holes, are used to protect the roots of trees from people walking on main streets where their ancestors once flourished. Mouth grills, metal jewelry with words and symbols, are used to protect people's values in urban areas that their ancestors built. Crafted from silver, which in some African traditions is used to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune, Tree Grills serve as an amulet.
In the Black American tradition of wordplay and puns, I juxtaposed tree grills and mouth grills so that this work would not just exemplify the resilience of Black forms of knowledge and modes of expression but also embody the perseverance of Black culture.