MOTHER
 
2021
Collection of 18 neon letters, 4’ x 4’ each, 72’ wide (total)
yellow, orange, and pink neon

Installation documentation:
Houston Botanic Garden, Houston, TX (with Lawndale Art Center)

Mother consists of eighteen individual 4’ x 4’ neon letters that together make a three word poem. This large neon light installation seeks to bring communities together and add to the global narratives that relate to climate change and eco-feminism.

For this poem, ‘Mother’ is a double entendre referring both to “Mother Earth” and maternal figures. The poem’s full text: OTHER  MOTHER  ANOTHER can be read as “other mother” or “another other.” Intentionally minimalist, the structure recalls concrete poetry (like the work of Gertrude Stein) and Écriture féminine (or early women’s writing).

Mother will be installed at the Houston Botanic Gardens from October 2021 - June 2022 as a site-specific neon installation that spans the garden’s 400 foot concrete corridor. This work was fabricated with support from Neon Gallery Houston.