Belonging(s)

2020, 27” x 40” x 23”, glass, ceramic, gold, salt, gun powder, cold fusion, permanent collection of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, photo credit: Ironside Photography

Belonging(s), a sculpture of a travel trunk made entirely from glass, investigates issues of immigration, assimilation, and agency, concepts that are rooted in the founding of the United States and are redefined anew by each generation. The luggage holds objects which represent aspects of Abigaill Levy Frank’s life that continue to shape the collective narrative today.

A closed travel trunk alludes to a journey, both physical and psychological. It can only be opened by the owner or by permission and holds contents that are prioritized and essential. What is kept? What is lost?

Belonging(s) is a response work to Crystal Bridge’s portrait of Abigaill Levy Franks by Gerardus Duyckinck (ca 1735).

Beth Lipman, The Levy-Franks Family, and a New Work Made of Glass