In Union We Are Strong
2016
Textile banner, hand and machine sewn cotton and silk, 44 x 58 inches

We Mourn Our Losses
2015
Textile banner, hand and machine sewn cotton and silk, 44 x 58 inches

New Demands?, prints
2016
Risograph prints and screen prints, 11x17 inches each (unframed)

From the series New Demands? (2011-2023)

Solo exhibition at Spudnik Press Cooperative, 2016
Presented as part of the Spudnik Press Artist Residency Program

The works in the exhibition are inspired by slogans, demands, and calls for action by the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union. They re-interpret and re-produce broadsheets, flyers, posters, placards, and advertising created by the Union as part of its campaigns for better living and working conditions for garment workers, from approximately 1890 to 1982. Presented together, the works span the winning of rights and benefits by members of the Union during the first half of the 20th century, and the demise of the American garment industry and subsequent losses of union jobs in the second half of the century.

Research was conducted at the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union archives at the Kheel Center, Cornell University.

Thanks to Nicolette Ross and Yewon Kwon at Spudnik; Patrizia Sione, Research archivist at the ILGWU Archives; SAIC Faculty Enrichment Grants; and Christine Tarkowski
Photo: Robert Chase Heisman
Studio assistance: Christy Carlson