A New Earth by Gillette Hawkins and Ellen Keyser
Medium: Acrylic and pencil on paper
Size: 19 in x 24 in
Artist statement / description:
A book with red binding is open to the middle. From the center of the pages springs forth a tree whose branches curl inwards. The leaves are a rainbow of hearts floating around the branches. Inside each heart is the name of a black woman killed by police or while incarcerated. The pages of the book have a poem which reads on the left page: “We are the voices whispered by the wind. We are the songs buried deep in the earth. We are the sounds of the seasons changing. We are all new birth.” On the right page it continues: “You cannot stop the sun from rising. You cannot stop our hands from joining. Our story is that of a new Earth.”
This piece was created between two artists and penpals, Gillette Hawkins and Ellen Keyser. Gillette is currently incarcerated, and Ellen is currently a resident hospital chaplain. They got to know one another via a penpal program while Ellen was recovering from a bone marrow transplant and bonded over their love of art, music, and shared experiences with feeling trapped institutionally. Ellen and G created this piece collaboratively, with G painting the imagery and mailing the piece to Ellen who wrote the poem at the roots of the tree. The piece was inspired by their dream of being able to create art together, without the separation of prison walls. From this idea they built on imagery of growth and freedom in the natural world, as well as naming grief and loss, and the way the natural world and the devastation it faces at human hands grieves with us those who are lost to police violence, incarceration, and the systemic effects of racism.