The artworks displayed in this room are related to heritage, which can refer to physical objects that are inherited, a person’s lineage, or a shared background.
Heritage can be mutable and complex as the pieces in this room demonstrate.
Julie Malen
Crest, 2012
Plaster, wood, and foam
Crest resembles a coat-of-arms; these two terms, crest and coat-of-arms, have become interchangeable in modern day usage, but originally a crest was the uppermost portion of a coat-of-arms. Coat-of-arms have been used for over 900 years to identify a person’s individual and family history.
Unlike family crests made from valuable materials such as fine wood or metal, Crest is made from pieces of found wood, foam, and plaster. The blank surface of Crest suggests that we can contribute new stories to our own family heritage.
Sonya Clark
Iterations, 2008
Combs
Like Crest, Iterations resembles a symbol of family heritage– a family tree. This piece is made out of plastic combs that are fastened together to form a tree with psreading branches.
The inspiration for the piece came from a Yoruba proverb stating that you don’t know who you are unless you can trace your heritage back for ten generations. Clark can trace her European heritage more than ten generations, but cannot do the same for her African heritage due to the North American slave trade.
