Plumbing The Divide, 2026                                                                      

Wood, Multiple Kinds of Paint, Plastic Product, Insulation Foam, Oil Pastel, American Dirt, Clay, PVC, Tobacco, Cotton Balls, PVC Piping, Patriotic Lights, One Toilet

Digging ditches for my grandfather’s plumbing business made me appreciate what people were capable of through labor; building homes, memories, systems.Yet those efforts, especially the kind that often go uncelebrated, is the very work that makes systems like our government function properly. The networks that when working perfectly no one notices but when not becomes crisis

In my work, Plumbing The Divide I use plumbing as a metaphor to explore political discourse in our current society where we are responsible for the shared infrastructure of communication that serves as the foundation of our democracy. Plumbing is a public utility yet, it is a fragile system which requires maintenance and proper user interactions. Political discourse functions very similarly; it routes and sanitizes cultural waste, depends on collective stewardship,and collapses when left to rot or abused. The installation consists of a painted triptych, a sculptural toilet, and interconnected PVC piping arranged as a fragmented communication system, resembling a broken conversation conduit. These materials reference labor while exposing the nasty side of patriotism. 

In the center of the installation is a deliberately disconnected toilet where the ghost of America’s future gazes at the viewer. In the bowl is a gem encrusted turd meant to represent ideological blockage; the way in which rigid ideological thinking disrupts the flow of political discourse. In the reservoir are fake plastic flowers standing in for outdated beliefs that should rest on the grave of ideological beliefs such as racism, sexism, and bigotry that don’t deserve to be recycled endlessly. 

Above the toilet is a triptych showing the very state in which many of us live. Unable to communicate with the other side. This is a window and mirror for the viewer. Allowing them to reflect on how political discourse is in their life. The illuminated conduits throughout the installation suggest the potential of communication, guiding the eye toward the central effigy of the “American Dream” figure Above the toilet, is an animation symbolizing the consistent shift of what is the ‘American’.  At the feet, our preamble. A promise that we piss on. 

So, what should America do? Well I think we need to shit or get off the pot. We are in this together; we are more than our political parties. We are the disenfranchised, the disconnected, and our actions are what we flush down our system. The damage is done. We need to be plumbers. We need to fix this. We need to get rid of the clogs and that may mean we need to replace pipes, toilets, and our septic systems within the structure of American civility. Or at the least stop pouring grease down the damn pipes.