CHALLENGING BALANCE, 2023

Site-specific immersive installation
Hawkeye Community College Art Gallery
Waterloo, Iowa, USA

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Mixed media, pine shadowboxes, Braille, books, found objects, medical supplies, butterflies, modular walls

Variable dimensions

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Created for Hawkeye Community College Art Gallery, access, and the evolving relationship between individual experience and institutional systems. Drawing upon the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and first-person narratives from Disability Visibility, edited by Alice Wong, the installation encourages movement, reflection, and multisensory engagement.

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At the center of the installation, white-washed justice scales balance atop books while black butterflies lift upward, suggesting the continual negotiation between history, care, and equity. Across from this assemblage, hundreds of butterflies form and simultaneously disperse from the American flag, reimagining national identity through movement, transformation, and collective belonging.