$1,450.00

Steel & Stone | 12”x12”x5”

Artist Statement:

ICE: The American Meltdown

ICE: The American Meltdown is built from a cube of square metal tubing—a form that should be solid, dependable, and enduring. But its edges are cut away and warped to appear as though the structure itself is melting. What should be strong is collapsing, dripping, dissolving into ruin, like ice on a hot summer’s day.

This piece reflects how the Trump administration, through the policies and actions of ICE has eroded the very fabric of America. Families ripped apart, children detained in cages, long-standing residents deported, communities raided at dawn—the architecture of our democracy has been weakened not from without, but from within. ICE, rather than symbolizing protection or order, became an instrument of fear and division, wielded against immigrants and refugees who came seeking hope.

The melting cube is America itself—our ideals of liberty, opportunity, and refuge dissolving under the heat of cruelty and authoritarianism. The once-stable form loses its shape, echoing how America’s identity is deformed when weaponized bureaucracy replaces compassion. It is a warning and a witness to our society being undone, not by nature, but by policy-and a reminder that what melts away may not return.