Exhibition Opening: I Am Woman | I Am Labor | I Am Home

Rivalry Projects is thrilled to present a solo exhibition of new works by Austin-based artist Tammie Rubin. Join us for the opening reception on Friday, November 1 from 5:00-9:00pm, along with an artist talk on Saturday, November 2 at 11:00am. The exhibition will be on view from November 1 – December 20, 2024.

“Black women are the mules of the earth”
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

I Am Woman | I  Am Labor | I Am Home examines complex narratives around women’s labor through new sculptures, prints, and installation-based works. The exhibition is informed by Rubin’s continued research on her own lineage, and how these histories affect her experiences of labor as an artist.

The exhibition is anchored by a vibrant blue, hand-painted map of the United States that sprawls across two walls of the gallery. A recurring motif in her practice, maps are symbols of autonomy, power, and escape, often in the face of erasure. Through Rubin’s intervention, the map becomes a vehicle for reclamation that traces the history of migration in the US, and offers a platform through which to explore stories of community, care, resilience, and survival.

The sculptures in the exhibition are venerations of labor. Utilizing found furniture, alongside the cast media of porcelain and hydrostone, Rubin creates shrines that highlight the multiplicity of the work that occurs both inside and outside of the home. These objects recall roles such as housekeeper, seamstress, cook, caretaker, and homemaker, to name a few, and employ furniture that serves multiple purposes – the ironing board that is both ladder and chair, or the shoe shine box that is both a stepping stool and a place of rest. In Sustenance, 2024, Rubin combines a hydrostone cast of her own head with a plethora of cast fruits and vegetables that appear to tumble out of her likeness like a cornucopia. In this work, Rubin becomes an object and witness to the categorizations thrust upon her. She is both a symbol of abundance, of ritual offerings, and a fractured, decapitated version of herself.

The installation is joined by two prints, produced in 2024 in collaboration with Buffalo-based fine art print studio Mirabo Press. Together the works in the exhibition conjure interwoven stories of survival, care, spirituality, and relocation, while holding space for what often goes unacknowledged.