Choked on Cotton
The Zoom opening “Choked on Cotton,” a solo exhibition of my recent work at the Community Artists’ Collective,occurred via Zoom on May 22, 2020. Miles Payne, Exhibition Coordinator, and I were in conversation and then engaged in discussion with the participants who were there. The exhibit is up through June 20 and appointments may be made at mbarnes@thecollective.org to view the work with masks and social distancing Thursday through Saturday of each week. Press for the show includes Glasstire and MFAH
The title of my exhibit has taken on more urgency with the tragic death of George Floyd on May 25 from a police choke-hold and the outpouring of grief and rage that has followed. My family history of oppression in service of cotton far outweighs my being metaphorically choked by the legacy of cotton; indeed the antebellum cotton plantation was an economic driver of the institutional racism that underpins actions and consequences of today. This must change.
My original introduction. When I returned to our antebellum family home, Klein, in 2018, I was taken aback by the miles of cotton fields that flow around the homes and outbuildings outside of Harpersville. The fluffy white of the mature cotton was like snow covering the terrain. Over the past several years, I have been exploring my own relationship to a heritage formed by cotton. Cotton created a foundation for our family in Alabama. Holding to a romanticized view of antebellum life, I hadn’t ever considered how my family was related to the plantation economies of global colonialism and how that structure has been solidified by its emergent capitalism. The work in “Choked on Cotton” is specific to my Alabama experience. I hope it will generate a broader conversation as viewers examine it through their own lenses.
Community Artists’ Collective. I am so honored that Michelle Barnes, co-founder and director of the nonprofit art space Community Artists’ Collective, invited me to show my work there. The Collective was established by Ms. Barnes, artist, educator and gallerist, and Dr. Sarah Trotty, artist and educator at Texas Southern University in 1985 “to promote and preserve for all people evidence of African American cultural traditions.” In addition to exhibitions, it focuses its efforts on arts education for youth and adults, entrepreneurship, and community development. At present, its space in the Bermac Building in Houston includes exhibition space, the Jubilee Quilt Circle, and a small shop area.
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