Shelby Head
Providence, RI
My interdisciplinary practice investigates the social and linguistic constructs that shape identity, history, and collective memory in the United States.
MessageThis artwork critiques federally sanctioned racial segregation in twentieth-century U.S. housing. Patterned floral wallpaper, sliced into narrow vertical panels, recalls domestic walls yet doubles as a visual fence—dividing space, marking exclusion. The installation highlights how racially explicit laws and government practices constructed urban ghettos, fencing Black communities apart from white suburbs. The decorative surface masks systemic violence, showing how segregation erected both physical and invisible barriers under the guise of normalcy and order.
- Collections: An Infrastructure Of Silence, Beyond the Whitewash
© Shelby Head, 2024. All Rights Reserved.
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