2020: Unraveled is a visual compilation of the deep-rooted issues that have come to a head in 2020. At its foundation is a literal heap of detritus that is growing so large that it is literally beginning to tear apart the fabric of American society. Not only has social equity begun to decay further, but also the very environment that humans call home. Greed and waste have set fires and floods in our hearts and on our planet. Since the foundation of the United States, these conflicts have been covered with platitudes or swept under the image of “the greatest nation in the world.” In this piece, the viewer is confronted with the fact that injustice is no longer staying hidden and that we must come back together to make something new.

Grace, Guardian of the Golden Rule is part of the Off the Canvas Collection.

Hanging By A Thread is part of the Off The Canvas Collection.

ARTIST STATEMENT

With “Hanging by a Thread,” Ann Golumbuk asks the viewer to physically grapple with the issue of women’s mass incarceration. Women and girls represent the fastest growing populations in jails and prisons, and often their imprisonment is a result of being forced into prostitution and
trafficking or of committing offenses tied to escaping abuse.

This life-size jumpsuit that echoes Ann’s own iconic orange painter’s coveralls has been transformed to a corporeal image that is entirely devoid of an actual body. In covering the suit in mugshots and numbers, Ann speaks to the dehumanization of women who are often victims rather than perpetrators. Perhaps most poignantly, Ann places unnamed images of women in the back pocket, demonstrating how their abusers manipulate and constrict the lives of these women, leaving them hanging by a
single thread.

Gather Around the Table 2 is part of the Off the Canvas Collection.