Mural Ngatu Mandala, 2016
A collaboration with Vaimoana Litia Makakaufaki Niumeitolu
acrylic on canvas
Sixteen 5' x 5' canvases installed on the floor of the North Hall of the Smithsonian Arts & Industries building
This work focuses on the social isolation of imprisonment and questions whether time in prison warrants the added penalty of exclusion from public life and art. The Mural Mandalas draw from Ngatu textiles from Tonga and street art in New York. The mandalas and film grew out of interviews with Judith Vazquez and Ojore Lutalo, both have been incarcerated. The Mural Ngatu Mandala & Film Installation honors Assata Shukur, Oscar Lopez Rivera, Ojore Lutalo and Judith Vasques.
Installation at CrossLines: A Culture Lab on Intersectionality at the Smithsonian Arts & Industries building, 2016