‘Lay Up With You’ (Sculpture, 2025)
Two wooden basketball hoops with hemp and jute nets, formed from the remains of my earlier work, ‘transmute’.
install assit by graciela guadalupe
in the thick of grieving hodari, i slowed down, played with old wooden pieces, and watched these shapes appear—as if guided by their hand.
the hoops sit closely, linked by a deep orange-red stripe symbolizing life and blood flow, surrounded by a floor painted deep ocean blue in reference to their chosen name—Birû, the Bahasan word for blue , holding their memory and spirit.
the basketball court has always been a home for black and brown folks: a place to release anger, build kinship, grieve, practice brilliance, resolve conflict, and witness one another’s becoming. it holds a layered meaning: a place where we form family, sharpen skill, test possibility, and witness each other’s survival and joy. it’s a public stage for intimacy, rivalry, mentorship, and communion— a space where play and politics meet. and also, if you knew hodari, you knew this game was their first love.
this work is a tribute to that lineage— and really and truly an homage to out own court, our dialougue, our love. two hoops, close together. two voice, still in conversation.
documentation support by Nino