Ubam Iba

Ubom keed

Ubam Iba

2022

Metal, salvaged shipping pallets, used shoes, shoelaces

Variable dimension

Image courtesy of Smack Mellon • Photo: Etienne Frossard

Ubom keed (Detail)

2020-2022

Metal, Life-cast hands, used clothes, Various country flags

Dimension Variable

Ubom iba

Ubom iba rather is composed of donated and collected used shoes that reside in and around a suspended ship rib, constructed to reference the eighteenth-century diagram of the Brookes slave ship as well as countless boats carrying migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean Sea. This piece continues my exploration of the links between bodies and transit within global labor economies.

Ubom keed

Through a collaborative effort, working with immigrant groups, I collect life cast of their hands. The cast hands reside in and around a suspended ship rib, constructed to reference the eighteenth-century diagram of the Brookes slave ship as well as countless boats carrying migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean Sea.