Headroom, 2025 

Installed: 48 x 72 x 36 in

Pen on paper, ceiling tile, paper-clay, fan

After experiencing differing levels of safety and protection within the same institution, I came to recognize that safe spaces do not emerge by chance within colonial structures, but are shaped through intentional leadership.

I invited my cohort to anonymously reflect on moments of safety or its absence. Their responses were recorded, shredded, and reformed into paper clay, which appears as both upholding and interrupting institutional structures.

Informed by Elaine Alec’s Indigenous-led framework for cultivating safe spaces, the work examines how colonial systems safeguard themselves while leaving individuals vulnerable to harm.