“Drop Your Weapon”
Bronze, 3-D Printed Objects, Spray paint 2025
Each object within the work symbolizes a person shot and killed by law enforcement….. easily searchable and disseminated through object. The long list of names we’ve been keeping now tethered to eternal objects thanks to research compiled by outlets like Harpers magazine and the many artists and neighborhood historians also working in this space. It takes a village.
The absurdity of an innocuous object mistaken for a weapon, underscoring the dehumanizing effects of racial profiling and the fallibility of the system that enforces it. The pervasive narrative of the “threatening Black body” has become deeply embedded in both popular consciousness and institutional practice, cultivating a climate of fear that extends not only to the general public but also to those empowered to carry weapons. Imagine your very existence being the threat. The trauma of power asymmetries and racial/ethnic violence is not confined to historical moments but persists across time and geography. The present is no exception.
This bronze sculpture serves as a critical commentary on the variance between man’s law and moral law. It rests at the intersection of police power, state sanctioned racialized violence, and the systemic failure to ensure safety for marginalized communities.