A Seat at the Table

I’m honored to share that my proposal, A Seat at the Table, has been selected as a finalist for The Underline’s inaugural Plinth Project.

Three figures sit side by side, forming a collective portrait of American identity—one shaped by labor, Black and Brown resilience, disability, bodily difference, and belonging.

The clothespin-inspired figure honors maintenance workers, laborers, and blue-collar communities. Its familiar, functional form represents the people whose work quietly holds our cities and everyday lives together, yet whose contributions have often gone unseen or unrecognized.

The flower-crowned figure celebrates Black and Brown beauty, cultural memory, and self-definition. The crown transforms the body into a site of abundance and growth, reflecting the ability to flourish while carrying histories of displacement, struggle, and resilience.

The altered third figure recognizes people living with visible and invisible disabilities. Its form challenges conventional ideas of what a body should look like, affirming bodily difference as complex, adaptive, beautiful, and deserving of visibility and dignity.

A shared red base brings all three figures onto the same plane. Its color evokes the blood we share beneath our differences—a reminder of our common humanity.

Surrounding the sculpture, a bed of red ginger flowers creates a living garden of healing and transformation. As the landscape grows and changes with time, it becomes an extension of the work—a space for renewal, remembrance, and the possibility of blooming through adversity.

Together, the figures pose a simple but enduring question: Who gets a seat at the table? Who has historically been included in the American narrative, and who is still seeking recognition and representation within it?