Picking Oakum

In this project, I return to the slow, meticulous practice of picking oakum — a historical act of labor, survival, and endurance. Once a form of punishment in prisons and workhouses, oakum picking involved unraveling old tarred ropes by hand, fiber by fiber.

Through this process, I explore themes of restoration, resilience, and remembrance. The act itself is slow, repetitive, and physical — a meditation on time, on touch, and on the hidden histories woven into everyday materials.

Each strand I free from the rope carries the weight of forgotten journeys, human hands, and lost labor. By working with these discarded materials, I seek to reclaim a space for patience, memory, and quiet transformation in a world that often values speed and surface over substance.

This is not just about the rope. It is about what we discard, who we forget, and how we might — through careful, deliberate attention — bring them back into the light.