“Given the opportunity to sail toward a new future, what society would you create, and how might we get there?” – Muna Malik
Gathered from across the United States, the artists assembled in Towards A New America explore the potential for a new vision of America while raising awareness of the complexities of our present socio-political and shared environmental moment. How will climate-driven migration affect us all? What would a world look like without borders to divide us? What if we embraced our innate interconnectedness?
Through the use of both traditional and found materials like shipping boxes, border patrol uniforms, shoelaces, reclaimed lampshades, and burlap, the works presented in Towards A New America employ materiality as a metaphor to underscore themes of migration, immigrant rights, and the devastating effects of climate change. Often considered “low tech,” the handmade and craft processes used to create these works – like weaving, embroidery, textile processes and ceramics – highlight questions surrounding hierarchies of labor and the value we place on it.
In crafting beauty from discarded and undervalued materials, the works collected here are a testament to the enduring human capacity for creativity, invention, determination, and perseverance. As a collection, these works offer a view towards a global community where the values of inclusion, cohesion, welcoming, and belonging make us stronger – a vision not only of the kind of society we all can sail towards, but an assertion that together, we may arrive there.