Flesh and labor is a piece that speaks on the immense amount of under appreciated, demeaned labor necessary for the daily luxury of a privileged few. The piece asks the viewer to question the worth of the flesh of laborers who are often people of color and women, referencing both the practice of worshiping white limbs as saint relics and severing Black hands as punishment of enslaved laborers in the Congo. I chose to use hand-embroidery because it is a painstakingly slow and often invisible craft that is undertaken by women laborers across the world. I hand-embroidered the piece over the span of 3 years, dedicating a few hours each day. I used techniques similar to thread painting. Cotton thread is alternated with silk thread to enhance the way that the work interacts with light. I chose to leave the work unfinished in order to highlight the labor and energy inputted---perfection seeks to disappear any human effort or sweat, and by leaving the work unfinished, the viewer is forced to confront what it has taken to bring the piece to this point and what it would take for it to be "completed."
