Groundation, Arts Club of Chicago, rope, metal, cast porcelain, May 1-Oct 7 2023

As part of the Arts Club’s Garden Series, Groundation, utilizes the fence at the Arts Club of Chicago as a structure to build a semi-transparent weaving that is an homage to Jamaican wicker weaver and Rastafarian Sylvester who created an immersive woven wicker environment in his home in St. Ann, Jamaica (1970s–80s) that also functioned as an important part of the local community. Originally called Lions Den, it was a gathering place for both locals and visitors, and as a Rasta, Sylvester viewed weaving as mediation and practice of communing with other planes of existence. The word “grounation” in Rastafarianism is a term for a ceremony or gathering that is meant to express the connection of a culture to its roots and the connection of an individual to its tribe.