Keep it Together
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2023
“Keep it together”, that is what bricklaying did for my family for at least 3 generations. This sculpture pays homage to that history going back to my Great grandfather Lloyd, who during the prohibition was imprisoned for bootlegging alcohol. During his years in prison he was taught a trade to help him get a job and make money [a legal way] when he got out. However, while he was incarcerated his children were separated into foster homes. Upon getting out he began to lay bricks to earn money. And he was only able to get his eldest son (my grandfather) back. Later my grandfather Vic, worked with his father and eventually took over the business. My grandfather was able to make a living laying bricks, enough to raise a family of his own. Both of his sons at one time worked with him as hod carriers, but it was his middle son Steve (my father) who took up the business and raised his family making a living this way. So, for 3 generations the redemptive skills learned back in the 1920’s were passed on from father to son etc… allowing each generation to raise a family and “keep it together”. I even worked for a year as my father’s hod carrier. I would have been the 4th generation- but I had another calling…
The two pieces share an angle of their roofline. One could look and think it is a house “split apart”, and in some ways it is. Another view is a comment on housing trends: Bricks are permanent and have no maintenance, and people choose to cover them up with other siding materials or paint (which requires maintenance). So the bricked faces seem to be exposed from underneath the exterior facade of inferior products- in some kind of irony.
Thank you for taking time to read this.