Afro Pick Sculpture Comes to Queens, NY in November

Friends of the Elmhurst Sculpture Garden in Queens, NY are proud to announce the installation of Bantu Knots & The Underground Railroad Afro Pick by Yvonne Shortt ( of Forest Hills) and her team in conjunction with RPGA Studio, Inc. This piece comes from the artist’s series African American Marbleization - An Act of Civil Disobedience. The sculpture series honors people of color and the objects they use. The term Marbleization is rooted in using materials often deemed “credible” in the art world such as marble and porcelain.

The afro pick design draws from picks 5,500 years ago first carved in wood and stone from Africa, and adds in teeth made from metal, a design patented in the U.S. in the late 60’s. Lastly, the pick incorporates braiding as a way of survival and knowledge share. This particular pick shows the route to freedom during slavery from the south to NY and up to Canada.

The idea of incorporating transportation into the Pick-the Underground Railroad- came from the artist taking part in the Afro Urban Society fellowship. The fellowship helped the artist meet over 50 other artists from all over the world, many living in various communities in Africa. Ms Shortt also drew on the fact that several houses in Brooklyn that were part of the Underground System were being torn down, in essence Ms. Shortt feels this important form of transportation and history is being erased.

Using a fragment of an African American face is about sculpting a person of color; a person not often seen in museums or public art. Ms. Shortt sculpted the head from clay drawing inspiration from her daughter’s Bantu Knots. Then, her team got involved by helping create a mold and cast the sculpture. Then, the head was chiseled, sawed, and sanded to give it a fragmented look. This process symbolizes the collective trauma of African Americans, and the resulting piece is often installed in places of pain to offer healing.

The teeth of the pick symbolized by the steel rods in the sculpture were inspired by a patent, by 2 African American business men, incorporating metal to strengthen the teeth in the late 60’s in the United States. The wood layer is a nod to the material used by Africans to create picks 5500 years ago. The most bottom wood piece will go underground and be anchored using Earth screws and bolts cemented in the ground.

The pick will be installed November 7th between 10 and 12 in the garden in Elmhurst, Queens. Ms Shortt has worked with Friends of Elmhurst Garden for four years helping revitalize and reimagined the space. Other work from Ms.Shortts series will be on display at Smack Mellon in an exhibit called Bound Up Together: On the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment. The show opens October 3rd and was curated by Rachel Gugelberger.

All are invited to help install and clean the Elmhurst Garden. Proper COVID processes are place. To help email mayuko@regoparkgreenalliance.org