2018
Felt, cotton, white embroidery thread
3” x various lengths 

This installation encompasses seven “treebands” wrapped around thick-barked trees situated along the Rivanna River (aka “Jefferson’s River”) in Charlottesville, VA. These felt bands document a few of the many enslaved humans at Monticello—the third President’s home and working plantation. Each person’s name, birthdate, and occupation are embroidered into an individual length of fabric. Reminiscent of traditional armbands, these physical reminders memorialize those forgotten and invisible laborers who produced goods transported down the Rivanna, or watermen who worked beside its banks, or stone masons whose extant markings exist at dams along various points of the waterway.