The Carrier Bag Theory (Challah Vessel), 2022
acrylic paint, Flashe paint, papier-mâché
12in x 35in x 8in
In “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction,” Ursula K. Le Guin explores the anthropological idea that the container was the first tool humans learned to make: “If it is a human thing to do to put something you want, because it’s useful, edible, or beautiful, into a bag, or a basket…and then take it home with you, home being another, larger kind of pouch or bag, a container for people, and then later on you take it out and eat it or…put it in… the shrine or the museum, the holy place, the area that contains what is sacred… — if to do that is human, if that’s what it takes, then I am a human being after all.”
After the first tool, one of the following major historical moments in humanity is the domestication of grain. Many argue that it brought us modern civilization. And with modern civilization, humanity has created an increasing number of problems and solutions for ourselves. Bread runs through much of that, sparking revolutions and unifying cultures.
In modern history, colonialism and white supremacy have thrived by many tactics. Capitalism and the hierarchization of knowledge have been used to sterilize and mass produce bread and to separate communities from their own ancient understanding of healing and protection.
Here, I monumentalize the tradition of braiding challah, a non-empirical tradition bound in superstition and ritual. I return it to the home, in the form of a paper and paste vessel.