Old Glory

PROJECT: Textile art

ROLE: Artist

Like many people, I have long been a fan of the sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King. I wore out one copy of the book Strength to Love and have lent others out that never came back.

One passage of his sermon, The Man Who Was a Fool, stood out so much that I was compelled to lay it out. With Jasper Johns and others as inspiration, I laid out the text on an American flag, which is sometimes referred to as “Old Glory.” I replaced the stars with common symbols of business and culture. After printing, I transferred it to roughly-cut cotton.