Caron Tabb
Humanity Is Not A Spectator Sport, 2021
Found objects: basketball hoop, baseball bat, soccer balls, baseballs, softball, basketballs, golf balls, Barbie doll, bicycle spokes and chain, leather, wood, monofilament. 25 x 20 x 89 inches
A sports match or a game is like a microcosm for life. While we can often be active and position ourselves to receive a pass or to score, at a certain point we may inevitably fall victim to the vagaries of fate. Scoring, winning, dominating, a missed ball, an errant hit, all of these causes lead to certain effects that may impact someone far from the initial action. The player’s force, strength, and intention directly impact the direction of the ball, the puck, the race, and this, in turn, creates a chain reaction with other players — not unlike human interactions. I see sports as an analogy for human relations. The cause and effect relationships that play out in the world, on the microscopic to macroscopic level, can cause catastrophic intended or unintended consequences and outcomes. While one might dispute the origins, the effects are irrefutable. Racial inequality, health disparities, famine, war, genocide, and climate change deeply impact our world. My own family members were lost in the Holocaust as a direct result of schemes, decisions, and horrific actions made by their fellow human beings. These actions ranging from small to large were all consequential to the lives of millions. One must not forget that positive cause and effect work the same way. Humanity is not a spectator sport. All of our actions matter.
Caron Tabb
Black, White, Asian, or Indigenous. Jew or Arab; We all Bleed The Same Red, 2021
Yarn, fabric, leather, paper, nylon, cording, rope, latex paint 75 x 9 inches x varied width
Standing in for human bodies of every color, shape, size, and form are hand-knotted vessels made of textiles, yarns, and paper. They represent the wonderful diversity of skin tones found throughout the world, with colors interlocking and bound organically together by mere tension. This outer layer, if peeled away, would reveal that inside we are all linked by a similar connective tissue.
Caron Tabb
Fabric of Humanity – Repairing My World, 2021
Fabric, leather, yarn, thread, paper, ribbon, nylon, cardboard Approximately 140 x 110 inches
Like many the world over, the pandemic left me isolated from friends and family near and far. As a result, I decided I would pull my loved ones closer to me through my artwork. I began sourcing fabric swatches from people I know and care for around the world and started on an asymmetrical ever-growing quilting project. While I expected simply the swatches, each seemed to arrive with a story attached. I read of loved ones long gone, places frequented years ago, and family treasures. I was humbled and touched by the thought and care people gave to my request. People from as far as South Africa, England, Germany, Israel, and across the United States sent me cherished pieces of garments and heirlooms they had held onto for decades, even a lifetime: a one-hundred-year-old nightcap from the ‘old country’, a sixty-year-old baby bonnet, a swatch from a wedding dress worn over thirty years ago. The notes which arrived with each swatch hand-stitched together became the “backstory,” a glimpse of our shared humanity.