59th Street Stories: The Ways of the Folk
These sculptures consist of stones combined with cast iron. The iron sculptures are textured forms which have been crafted first in burlap, and then cast. Osnaburg is the 18th century name for a burlap fabric known then as “negro cloth” which was given to slaves to make their clothing. The cast burlap sculpture adorns field stones, which were often used to mark early African-American graves. One iron sculpture is combined with an actual handcrafted tombstone found in a secondhand shop in Alabama. When I find historic objects such as this for sale, I purchase them if possible and integrate them with my work, which I see as a kind of redemption for the object.
