Position Preferred
Maker and role
Artist: Chakaia Booker, American, born 1953
Year
2006
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Object detail
Media/Materials
Rubber and wood
Measurements
46 x 42 x 38in (116.8 x 106.7 x 96.5cm)
Credit line
Museum purchase with funds from the McNay Contemporary Collectors Forum
Accession number
2007.29
Object type
Department
Location
Further information
“Salvaging such defiant beauty from scraps of resilient black, rubber provides a compelling metaphor of African American survival in the modern world.” —Chakaia Booker
Chakaia Booker works primarily with discarded tires, which she slices, twists, and weaves to create dynamic sculptures. In New York City, Booker noticed that “there were piles and piles of garbage everywhere.” She was drawn to tires specifically due to their subtle differences in color, variety of surface textures, and wide availability. The used tires reference the wearing down of the body due to aging—fine ridges resemble wrinkled skin while deep grooves recall scarring.
Chakaia Booker works primarily with discarded tires, which she slices, twists, and weaves to create dynamic sculptures. In New York City, Booker noticed that “there were piles and piles of garbage everywhere.” She was drawn to tires specifically due to their subtle differences in color, variety of surface textures, and wide availability. The used tires reference the wearing down of the body due to aging—fine ridges resemble wrinkled skin while deep grooves recall scarring.
Copyright
© Chakaia Booker
Documentation
Something to Say: The McNay Presents 100 Years of African American Art; René Paul Barilleaux, Lowery Stokes Sims (b.1949); 2018; p. 60, 71
Subject period
Docent information sheet
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