Guardian

Artist: Matthew Carlson of Greensboro, NC

Artist statement: Raising a son with autism, I have experienced how the physical and philosophical structures of our society interfere with the lives of marginalized groups: the poor, the disabled, the elderly. Meanwhile, most of our society does not even recognize that these structures are there. With this sculpture I created a piece that embodies the hostility that these marginalized members of our society experience every day. The sculpture is inviting but also feels dangerous, as though it could hurt you at any moment. Using steel, the material that is literally the foundation of society’s physical structure, I’ve built a metaphor for the manmade structures that make the world so difficult to navigate.