Reckoning | Created by Ruth Smith from Aptos, CA.

Reckoning

Created by:

Ruth Smith from Aptos, CA

Exhibit:

Racism: In the Face of Hate We Resist

Artist Statement:

On May 25, 2020, when George Floyd died under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, he was certainly not the first Black victim of police brutality. However, the stark cruelty of his killing, captured on video, sparked a national outcry as protests calling for racial justice spread like wildfire in cities across the nation.

Rivers of people poured into the streets in massive gatherings of peaceful protest, with chants and silence, kneeling and raising fists in a collective call for justice, over the next days, weeks and months. I watched transfixed with great emotion as these events unfolded. I knew I wanted to mark this epic moment in history, as individuals and institutions are compelled to reexamine their fundamental beliefs around race and equality, as together we confront this call for change. My intent for this quilt, constructed of African-inspired fabrics, protest signs, and a tattered Confederate flag, is to capture this energy and forward momentum of our country’s racial reckoning in 2020, and to invoke the power and strength we will need as we face the work still before us.

2020
45" x 43"
Machine pieced, appliqué, hand and machine quilted.