Derricotte was selected in conjunction with MOG exhibition A Two Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists. Her residency will include creating new work inspired by Sally Hemmings:
“Most of us know about Sally Hemings, the enslaved woman who was the mother of 6 of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson’s children. Yet, no known photos or drawings of Sally exist, so I plan to create her portrait using metaphor and objects. Sally was a seamstress and was charged with the upkeep of acknowledged Jefferson family members’ wardrobes, including the daughters Jefferson fathered with his wife Martha Wayles Jefferson, who pre-deceased him. (Martha was also Sally’s half-sister).
At the Museum of Glass, in partnership with Ben Cobb and the MoG Hot Shop Team, I will begin to create Sally’s portrait in sculptural form. Examples of oversized objects we will create include: spools of thread, sewing needles, thimbles and scissors. This work is part of an ongoing area of research I began as the inaugural BIPOC resident at the Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass in December 2022. At Corning, I began to craft a sculptural portrait of James Hemings, Sally’s older brother who was Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved chef who rose to the rank of Chef-de-Cuisine in France.
My work at the Museum of Glass will further the creation of these historical portraits; it will bring Sally Hemings into our collective view and allow us to confront our fraught American history through the beauty and power of glass.”
28 авг 2024
