Perhaps more than ever, in the story of our optimistic framework, under which we as the United States sway, we must sit at the feet of our elders.

I sit at the feet of our Grandmothers. A “Grandmother” being a woman of a certain age who shares wisdom with and empowers her community. Sitting at the feet of such an elder holds great meaning and reverence. In this performance I use chairs and parts of chairs as symbols for Grandmother. Chairs are seemingly banal and yet hold the stories of place, situation, and prominence in their elaboration, simplicity, decoration, and/or evidence of use. For this work I tied them together in a metaphoric shipwreck of her story.

In this six-hour performance I sat and stood and bowed at the feet of these chairs while soundlessly I screamed, sewed white braids into rugs, and wrote about her with white pencil on white paper. This performance explores the reverence I feel for Grandmothers and the rage I feel at the system that denies both their wisdom and humanity.