PARAFFIN FLAG
(2026)
Cyanotype on Cotton, Tea-toned Cotton Thread, Paraffin and Beeswax, Petrol Can, Matchbox with Cyanotype Print
Approx. 150cm x 250 cm
How do we, as artists, respond in times of political turmoil? What does it mean to use the symbols of a country in our work—readymade for us in their design and already steeped with meaning? Can we avoid the label of propaganda if we use our art to make a political statement? The political artist, Tania Bruguera states that “political art has doubts, not certainties.” Yet, when the actions of a government strike us as clearly immoral, to create art with no certainty would take a deliberate act of unknowing. The works Paraffin Flag and Rupture/Repair contain both certainty and doubt, knowing and unknowing. The knowledge of violence against a minority group by those in power, but the doubt about how to respond and whether a country can be redeemed.
As an American artist who has emigrated from their country, how to respond takes on a further layer. The impact of any statement is diluted by a distance that keeps me safe and any viewer will also be standing on the outside, equally insulated. The deliberate tearing of the fabric in Paraffin Flag and the invitation to burn carries a risk of prosecution in the United States, as flag burning has been labeled a call to violence by the president. What does it mean then that I am safe to create this art because of my location?
Rupture/Repair documents the act of tearing and mending, layering it with news footage of the United States government’s violence against its citizens and the immigrants who made a home there. By using text over 100 years old, Rupture/Repair reminds us that the political turmoil and violence of today is not new, but woven into the very fabric of the country.
Should that fabric be mended?
The flag in Paraffin Flag was used for a filmed performance, Rupture/Repair. The performance involved tearing the flag and then repairing it. The artist is dressed in clothing referencing Americana. The performance was filmed and then overlayed with video of violence committed by ICE agents in the United States and subsequent protests. Emma Goldman’s essay, "Patriotism, a Menace to Liberty", as read by the artist, serves as the soundtrack for the video.
FLAG WORK
(2026) Performance
Cyanotype on Cotton, Tea-toned Cotton Thread
Flag Work is a performance art piece which took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in spring 2026. The piece involved sitting on the steps to the memorial and hand sewing a torn apart American flag as visitors to the memorial walked past. Visitors were free to interact and ask questions during the performance. The flag was created using a cyanotype process—a photographic process which produces images in prussian blue, resulting in an entirely blue flag.
