Kristine Mays pictured with one of her life-sized wire sculptures. Embedded in the piece is a quote from Zora Neale Hurston, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Photo of artist by Kim Crichlow.
It is an honor for us to present the exquisite work of American artist Kristine Mays in the Jay Estate Gardens. Mays breathes life into wire as she creates human forms that dance, grieve, hope and pray. Her figures help us resurrect the all-important narratives of the women and men whose strength, resilience and measurable contributions to our landscape have often been forgotten. As a member site of New York State’s Path Through History for Civil Rights and Westchester County’s African American Heritage Trail, the Jay Estate is a compelling venue for contemplating our shared American heritage while viewing these ethereal silhouettes. This is the first installation of fine art in the gardens. The exhibit is open Thursdays from 10am – 2pm and Sundays from 10am to 5pm with more public hours and programs to be announced.
Rich Soil challenges people to acknowledge the ancestors, the workers of the land, those deemed less than, the bodies that have been used and treated as disposable. The artwork moves beyond beauty and decoration– provoking thoughts of spirituality, racial justice and humanity. Loosely inspired by the Alvin Ailey dancers, it has accentuated ideas of playfulness and worship with the everchanging ecology of the land as its stage. The work offers many ideas and interpretation. In the middle of nature, conversation about land acknowledgment, Black Lives Matter and immigration have become commonplace. There is a dance between spirituality and social awakening – both ends of the spectrum evoking deep reaching conversation.
The exhibit is composed of 29 pieces each grouped into seven vignettes with titles like “Ancestral Spin” and “Celestial Prayer Meeting.” Sculpted from thousands of pieces of wire hooked and looped together, each of Mays’ garments embodies a fleeting gesture or expression that delivers a message of strength while challenging how we view ourselves and others. Speaking to the New York Times about her 2021 installation at Hillwood, Mays said her work was “a celebration of all of the enslaved people who once toiled on the property, and this idea of them coming back, like their spirits rising up from the soil and rejoicing now that they’re free.” She added, there is a “beautiful thing that happens when you connect nature with art. People interact with both and embrace the sacred nature of creation.”
Jay Heritage Center (JHC) President Suzanne Clary said, “The Jay Estate Gardens were reimagined together by Nelson Byrd Woltz, New York State Parks and JHC as a public green space to host inclusive community programming. The design is deliberately sensitive to cultural resources remaining beneath the earth. Hosting Kristine Mays’ Rich Soil is a natural next step for inviting meaningful dialogue about the individuals whose hands originally tended the earth and created the paths our feet walk upon today.”
This is the New York debut for Rich Soil. It initially opened in the San Francisco Bay Area at Filoli Historic House and Gardens in Woodside, CA. It has since travelled to some of the country’s most prominent gardens and parks including the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Art Farm at Serenbe, Memphis Botanical Garden and most recently Longue Vue House and Gardens.
About the Artist
Kristine Mays is an American artist currently living and working in San Francisco, California. Independently trained, and a self-described maker for her entire life, she began crafting with wire in 1993, after years of drawing, sketching, sewing, and bead work. Of her current work, Mays says, “I am honored and humbled that I can spend my life creating artwork.”
Mays seeks to create change with her art in an impactful way. “With each work, I create a form that reveals the essence of a person and that speaks to humanity as a whole”, she says. Collaborating with organizations like the UCSF San Francisco Alliance Health Project, Visual Aid and WE-Actx she has been a part of raising thousands of dollars for AIDS research. She has participated in programming at the De Young Museum, the Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD), and exhibited at the California African American Museum (CAAM). Her work was featured in “The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill 20th Anniversary World Concert Tour”. An installation of her work is permanently installed at the East Lake Station of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) in Georgia. Her past public art works include a 400 pound ‘Heart of San Francisco’, benefiting the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Mays is represented by Modernism Inc. Gallery in San Francisco, California. Her work has been collected by institutions such as the Crocker Art Museum and California Pacific Hospital. Private collectors of her work include George Lucas, Mellody Hobson, Reggie Browne and the collector Peggy Cooper Cafritz, with her work also displayed in many Bay Area homes and private collections throughout the United States.
Learn more about Kristine Mays here.
JHC is grateful to our cosponsors the American Women of African Heritage (AWAH) and the Friends of the African American Cemetery (FOAAC).