A More Perfect Union

2022-2023
Compressed earth, wood, cinderblocks, and flagpole
36” x 60” x 2” (flag only)

Installation view at STNDRD, Granite City, IL
2022-2023

A More Perfect Union is a flag for a nation in tumult. Made of compressed dirt gathered from the exhibition site, it flies in a vulnerable state of slow but inevitable change. Its fifty circular holes—representing the stars of the American flag—allow light to shine through an otherwise impenetrable plane. The flag’s shape echoes another fixture of the Midwestern landscape: the roadside billboard. This static, airborne rectangle, however, neither announces nor proclaims anything. It flies for a country whose tainted glory has faded and whose full promise is yet to come.