Untitled (Mulberry Pick)

laser-cut acrylic with stainless steel hardware

14 x 27 inches

Courtesy of the Artist

This work reimagines the afro pick as both object and symbol, drawing on its historical role as an emblem of Black pride, self-definition, and resistance. Rendered in mulberry-toned acrylic and structured through a faceted, quilt-like geometry, the form bridges personal adornment and collective memory. The surface language references traditions of pattern-making and assembly, invoking both craft lineages and systems of construction that hold cultural knowledge.

At the apex of the pick, a power button replaces the raised fist commonly found in historic versions of the object. This substitution shifts the symbolism from a fixed gesture of resistance to a more fluid, contemporary meditation on agency. Power here is not only asserted but activated, suggesting a condition that can be turned on, circulated, or withheld. The gesture invites viewers to consider how visibility, identity, and self-determination are negotiated within present-day cultural and technological frameworks.

By translating a familiar cultural object into a precise, fabricated structure, the work situates itself between tradition and iteration, asking how symbols endure, evolve, and are re-authored across time.

Damien Davis is a Newark-based artist, educator, and writer for Hyperallergic. His practice explores representation and identity through a visual language that recontextualizes symbols from diverse cultures, challenging historical narratives and inviting new interpretations. His traveling solo exhibition, Color Cargo, utilized wood and graphic symbolism to explore themes of empowerment and the Tulsa Race Massacre. This show was on view at VisArts in 2019. Damien's work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, MAD Museum and is included in the permanent collections of Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and the California African American Museum.