Hips made of steal paired with the light tutu often associated with ballerinas demonstrates the contradiction between strength and elegance that is expected of ballerinas.

As people walk through the passageway, the surface of the walls mirrors skin tonalities. The installation appears to change based on viewers' race. Similarly, in everyday life the environment we are in often changes based on skin tone. The work strives to spark conversation about current events involving race by reflecting the interrelationship of physical characteristics and responses to them.

I created this piece in my beginning sculpture class. It was inspired by a question I had about another work: If the art is making the art, is it abstraction or is it realism?

As part of a sculpture course focused on welding, we created chip hammers for our first assignment. I used my chip hammer throughout the semester while I welded other work.