"This work is modeled after the now-defunct International Prototype of the Kilogram (aka “Le Grand K”), which until recently was the global standard for the kilogram unit of mass. Carefully protected by a set of three nested bell jars under vacuum to guard against contamination or deterioration, it formed the basis for an essentially arbitrary system of measurement around which entire societies and economies were formed. Instead of being composed of precious metals, the cylinder housed inside the bell jars in this piece is made of a mixture of light shades of inexpensive drugstore makeup/face powder. The piece evokes the pseudoscientific vision that fabricated and enshrined the concept of race and “whiteness,” and the multilayered, systematic strategies used to defend and maintain an arbitrary paradigm. Although the "Institute of Cultural Standards and Engineering" on the brass plaque is imaginary, the cultural structures that established and continue to support socioeconomic hierarchies based on race have such a powerful and pervasive hold that such an institute might as well exist. At the same time, there is a tension with the banality of such a cultural paradigm, which with all its power is so fragile and baseless that it must be continually protected and defended."

Sculpture