Yvonne Shortt & Her Afro Pick Series on Queens College Campus

"Afro Picks originated over 5500 years ago in Africa and told narratives specific to individuals or tribes," said Yvonne Shortt. "When the afro pick came to America it became an icon and told an iconic narrative of black power in the 70's. "I wanted to remember the individual's narrative," said Shortt. Ms. Shortt has stayed true to her vision. What makes this work more significant is the fact it is part of a larger conversation on monuments. Ms. Shortt didn't just put her art on campus and walk away, she will be working with the community to create new narratives over this year. Those narratives will be turned into public art, more specifically -afro pick handles. The handles, created in collaboration with the community, will replace her handles next year. The afro pick will hold new narratives and be offered as a conduit for continued story telling through public art. " I am very excited to work on this effort with the artist," said Mr. Holfona who is hoping to help create a narrative about immigrating to this country at sixteen in an afro pick collaboration with Ms. Shortt.

When I asked Ms. Shortt why Queens College, she said it was because she is one of four generations to study at Queens College. Ms. Shortt's grandfather, brother, and niece also went or are going to Queens College. "Queens College has a rich history of being an institution that offers a superb education," said Shortt. "The fact that it is 1/6th the cost of other institutions is just icing on the cake." Ms. Shortt also created a pick in honor of her grandfather. The pick handle has some very poetic words burned into the wood. "The campus is still closed but I cried when she sent me a picture of the pick,'" said the artist's mother Carmen Shortt. The artist's grandfather died around a decade ago but, his story lives on at Queens College. " The artist's grandmother recently passed so it made for an emotional piece," said Ms. Shortt's husband who helped her install all of the picks on campus.

Each afro pick consists of a pick handle composed of wood and porcelain plus pick teeth fabricated and welded in metal. The picks are all outdoors around Queens College at Kiely Hall, Jefferson Hall, Klapper Hall, Fitzgerald Gym, and Rathaus Hall. One piece called 'The Observer started at Kingsland Wildflower in Brooklyn on the rooftop of Brooklyn Stages. Ms. Shortt received a residency through Ankhlave to create work on this green roof. Ms. Shortt created a head with a crocus flower. The crocus flower was the first plant she saw there when she visited last spring. The head was sculpted in her studio and placed on the green roof for two months. Afterward, the piece went back to the artist's studio where images were burned into two additional pieces of wood showing what the head observed while on the building: Waste treatment facility, barges carrying garbage on the creek, oil in the creek as a result of decades of misuse. The pick was then installed at Klapper Hall which is the home of Godwin-Ternbach Museum.

There are other picks on the Queens College Campus including what Ms. Shortt calls a grease pot. "4C coils can be a death sentence for some," said Ms Kriston. Ms. Kriston is someone Ms Shortt interviewed and who inspired this grease pot sculpture. According to the artist, "With this piece I wanted to create something that celebrated tighter curl patterns." The grease pot also has 3a-4c coil patterns carved around it. On the wood is carved, "Super Fly, 3A-4C Curl patterns." This piece explores hair, a topic Ms. Shortt will be delving deeper into at Socrates Park this fall when she installs her Hair Sanctuary. Hair Sanctuary is a collaboration between the artist, Jenna Boldebuck, and Kelly Li.

To see more of this artist's work or to help with the next set of afro pick handles, email workshopofshortt@gmail.com

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