Mixed Media > Wash

In the present era the vilification of “the other” is, unfortunately, at its pinnacle. What is it like to live the life of an “other” person? To be the object of an ethnic, or racial epithet, religious or sexist slur? To be objectified to the point of dehumanization and, in some countries, murdered? What would it take to cleanse such hatreds from the collective consciousness? In the sustained metaphor of this installation, we take one of the oversized soap bars and wash ourselves with it. At first, rather than simply cleansing, it saturates us with the besmirching term. But finally, the disdainful speech vanishes as the ink-drenched text disintegrates into the environment, hopefully to be renewed as acceptance and appreciation of each person’s ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual preference.