1863 – Emancipated? (Part l)

Slavery was formally abolished in 1863 with Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. In this three-piece series, Emancipated?, the text of that historic document is layered across the faces of individuals representing three different centuries. This particular work reflects those who were freed late in life—men and women in their seventies and eighties who often remained on the plantations because it was the only world they had ever known.

Some were never told they had been freed until years later; others were killed for attempting to leave, despite their freedom being guaranteed by law. The piece questions what “Emancipation” truly meant for those whose liberation came without resources, safety, or real opportunity.