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Reaching back to an ugly time in history and melding it with a current musical and cultural theme to present art which illustrates the intertwined, complex and oppressive nature of U.S. race relations, Kylea Perkins is stretching her creative limits as much as the copper and silver material with which she so diligently and lovingly labors. 

The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville senior studio art major is conducting the independent endeavor as an associate in the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) program. 

“The URCA program seemed like a fantastic opportunity to delve deeper into the metalsmithing techniques that I was interested in, and it afforded a budget to purchase materials and equipment I would otherwise not have been able to access,” said Perkins. “Professor Aimee Howard-Clinger (associate professor and head of Metalsmithing in the SIUE Department of Art and Design) was the reason I applied for URCA. She knew what a great opportunity this would be for my development as an artist and student. She’s an incredible mentor, and I have been extremely lucky to have her.” 

URCA encourages, supports and enables undergraduate students of all disciplines to participate in research and creative activities under faculty mentorship. 

“Since my sophomore year, I’ve been making work around the subject of race relations in United States history. I’ve also been taking a lot of courses around that subject for my minor in urban studies, and it often informs my work and the ideas I generate,” explained Perkins. “Last spring, I created a large chain necklace that represents America and the relationship between Blacks and whites in the way that only a chain could – interconnected, forced together to create strength and too heavy to be comfortable.” 

 Perkins researched the ideas and conceptual meanings behind chains and their significance in the Black community, and discovered parallels between slavery and hip hop. 

“In slavery, African Americans were exploited by white Americans for capital gain. We see the same thing happening in hip hop,” she noted. “The overwhelming majority of executives in the music industry are white, and Black artists (and artists in general) often have to relinquish quite a bit of control when signing record deals and working with large corporations. This reinforces the same racial hierarchy and capitalistic exploitation.” 

Perkins found the shared iconography of chains between the two subjects especially interesting. 

“Aesthetically, chains have become a symbol of both slavery and hip hop,” she informed. “Chains have historically been used to control prisoners or slaves as a tool of bondage. Blacks began to reclaim large chains and use them as an indicator of their wealth and success, which leads me down a rabbit hole of interesting questions about perceived value, material wealth and racial hierarchy. Chains in the Black community took on new meaning, one of prosperity and liberation through expression, even if the racial domination was still at play.” 

Perkins is creating a large, four-chain necklace for her URCA project that will be hand-fabricated out of thick copper grounding wire. “I have a passion for fabrication and creating with copper, because of its material properties and its conceptual implications,” she said. “I want this necklace to be extremely heavy and uncomfortable, like its subject matter. I like to use copper as an analogy for Blacks, because we rely on it as a building material, but we don’t value it in the same way as a precious metal like silver. 

“The chains will resemble the ostentatious chain necklaces that Black rappers popularized in the ‘90s. The uppermost necklace will be a Cuban-style chain with several stones set in it to reference the large, blinged-out chains that have become synonymous with hip hop. The longest chain on the necklace will resemble a more industrial, shackle-like chain to refer to chains involuntarily worn by slaves.” 

Perkins added that the aesthetic connections between the chains of slavery and chains of hip hop also piqued her interest about the financial and racial parallels of the two subjects. 

“Working on this project has allowed me to learn and practice fabricating several types of chain, including Cuban, box and rope,” she said. “This semester, I will learn two types of stone-setting. These skills will make me a better metalsmith. The URCA program is a great opportunity for undergraduates to get research experience and work closely with professors on a variety of extremely interesting projects.” 

For more information on SIUE’s URCA program, visit siue.edu/urca. 

Photo:
Kylea Perkins, a senior majoring in studio art, is an Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) program associate.