Plate Installations

The Harvest is based on  Matriarchs Installed at Klein, two plates, one  of Lucy Wallace Baker and one of Kate Henderson Wallace.  Lucy Wallace was enslaved by Kate Henderson Wallace’s family.  The two families have come together again as their descendants serve on the Klein Arts & Culture Board and participate in the Klein Homecomings.  In the gallery, a video about Klein Arts & Culture and the homecomings is displayed on an iPad next to the plates. The First Harvest is installed across the gallery and refers to the family’s bonds to cotton.

The Harvest

The Harvest consists of twelve dinner plates in the Autumn pattern by Lenox. My grandmother had these plates and I grew up eating from them during family celebrations. I chose this pattern when I got married in 1969. Now I have fired decaled images of two matriarchs of Klein and of their descendants who have come together at the Klein Homecomings in 2018 and 2019.

The First Harvest

The First Harvest has my grandmother’s Autumn Lenox platter with small wads of cotton linter randomly placed on it. To me, this signifies the importance of cotton to our family in the 19th century and the legacy of the slavery that enabled their wellbeing.

Matriarchs Installed at Klein

The Harvest installation was based on these two plates of the Matriarchs that I made and placed at Klein. These plates may be seen in the background of some of the interview footage in the Klein Arts & Culture video.