Jeanine Tatlock

These sculptures are modeled after obelisk monuments, similar to the Washington Monument in DC. Obelisk monuments are often known to evoke phallic symbolism. By using fabrics and soft materials for these sculptures I created "flaccid" monuments; inserting humor and taking away the power from this symbol of masculinity and dominance.

My work also explores themes of white supremacy throughout American history, and the pointed top references a KKK hood. The soft sculptures resemble bodies of klan members and portray the way that white supremacy seeps into the domestic and every-day. The nature of white supremacy is complex because it can be insidious: woven within the fabric of society in addition to the overtly violent. My sculptures portray this relationship of how white supremacy is interlocked within post-colonial American history and culture in a way that is dysfunctional.

As a gesture toward guerrilla art, I created fake plaques to explain more of the history behind some of UNC's controversial buildings and monuments that honor or gloss over the college's history of the Confederacy, enslavement, and segregation.

This work was featured in the following publications:

The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://www.chronicle.com/article/A-White-Student-s-Protest/239914

The News & Observer: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article141301648.html

The Daily Tarheel: http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2017/03/plaque-honoring-zora-neale-hurston-to-be-removed-from-carolina-hall

Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/29/fake-plague-placed-at-university-north-carolina.html

As a somewhat humorous, self-deprecating nod to Southern gentility, femininity, and "white culture," pearl beads are embroidered into phrases from American monuments, including monuments to the Confederacy. This series is a visual representation of how America's history of violence, enslavement, and genocide is whitewashed and masked by platitudes that ignore its atrocities, and how those in power manipulate the landscape with monuments that honor their treachery.

In this series, wrought iron gates from my environment are spray painted over to leave a negative space, ghost-image of the gate behind.  The gates are metaphors for barriers to access, and are often found outside prestigious institutions such as Universities and Museums.

Watercolor is one of my favorite mediums, which I often use for sketching.  Many of my watercolor studies are inspired by the blog site, tumblr. I have come to use this medium as a form of everyday journaling and archiving, similar to the way I use my online tumblr blog.