Through textiles and photographs, Letitia Huckaby addresses years of inequity for African Americans in the United States. In the midst of recent calls for socioeconomic justice, her art is particularly poignant and timely. “I am not an in-your-face political artist,” Huckaby says, “but I see politics in everything I do.” The girls whose silhouettes are depicted in Huckaby’s AT&T Lobby installation recall the killing of young girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. The title, Koinonia (pronounced koy-NOW-nee-uh), is a Greek word for Christian fellowship or communion.
Floral patterns reference empty flour, sugar, and cotton sacks, upcycled during the Great Depression to create clothing and other linens. The silhouetted figures reference community. For Huckaby, the embroidery hoops reference “women’s work and the creation of something precious for the home, something that would get passed down through the generations,” adding a personal layer to the historical and political weight of the artwork.
