Cell Solace

Purse of Peace

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 05:46:34 +0000

Anon.

Purse of Peace, 1960’s

Woven cigarette packaging

Nevada State Prison, Carson City, Nevada

Peace is a multicolored tote bag with a red lining and working zipper, made with forgotten brands such as Chesterfields, Larks, Viceroy and many others. This piece was made to standout.

The Nevada Territorial Legislature established the Nevada State Prison or “NSP” in 1862 in Carson City, NV. In 1903 the prison became the states sole facility to carry out all executions by lynching. And 7 years later the state pass legislation that gave death row inmates the choice of how
they would like be executed. The choices where death by a firing squad or lynching, until 1921, when they introduced the gas chamber.

The Nevada State prison closed in 2012 however all of the states executions were still carried out in the prison’s perfected gas chamber until 2016.

My Wife

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 05:03:46 +0000

Anon

My Wife,1960’s

Woven cigarette packaging

Leavenworth Federal Prison, Leavenworth, Kansas

A well-proportioned clutch purse, My Wife uses double bands of light and dark lines to define central monochromatic fields. These fields, also displayed as light or dark, are harmonizing expanses of brown, tan and beige tones that give the purse a beautifully expensive appearance.

The federal prison at Leavenworth, built in 1903, was the nation’s largest maximum security prison until 2005 when it was down-graded to a medium security facility. It houses more than 1900 inmates of which at least 500 are in the prison camp. Among those who have served time there are: James Earl Ray, Boston’s own James “Whitey” Bulger, Machine Gun Kelly, Michael Vick and convicted serial murderer Thomas Silverstein. Silverstein slew four men in prison, two of them corrections officers. He was deemed extremely dangerous and has been in isolation for
over 30 years up to today.

Located just 4 miles from Leavenworth is the USDB (United States Disciplinary Barracks). The USDB is the US Military’s only maximum-security prison. Benjamin Davila.

Michele

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 04:08:22 +0000

Herman Wallace

Michele, 1971

Woven cigarette packaging

Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, Louisiana

This clutch bag is unusual in that it bears a woman’s name. We know nothing of her,
except that she was beloved. Wallace created the design of staggered lines by
careful orchestrating repeated fragments of the image of the camel that
appeared on packages of that brand name. He paid attention to achieving a balance between the brownish-red of the camel motif and the warm white ground on which it appears. The result is a
purse where horizontality has been dramatized. Though not evident, the purse is lined with suede.

Wallace spent 40 year in solitary confinement in a 6’ by 9’ feet cell. He was almost certainly innocent. Commonly called “Angola,” the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States. It is widely known for its cruel, plantation-like prison farm. At the request of Franklin Graham, the caskets of Reverend Billy Graham and his wife were made at Angola, and bear the names of Richard Leggett, Paul Krolowitz and Clifford Bowman.

Homer

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 04:01:52 +0000

Anon.

Homer, 1974

Woven cigarette packaging and string

Millhaven Institution, Bath, Ontario Canada

Homer is a playfully constructed dog made of Canadian cigarette boxes. The artisan possessed a good sense of volume and created the dog with a wide stance that supports its weight and lends it a sense of vitality. One cannot help but wonder if Canadian correctional institutions are more amenable to humor than are ours.

Millhaven Institution opened in 1971 and has an inmate capacity of 450.
It is surrounded by a high bob-wire fence surmounted by a watch tower with views to all
directions. It has a dedicated unit to house its most violent and high risk inmates. On July 10, 1972, fourteen inmates escaped by cutting through the bob-wire fence. A manhunt involving more than 300 guards and Canadian soldiers ensued leading to the capture most of the escapees. This event was captured in song by the Canadian rock band “The Tragically Hip” in a song titled “38 Years Old.”

Cherry’s Treasure

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 03:48:59 +0000

Anon.

Cherry’s Treasure, mid-1960’s

Camel cigarette wrappers and boxes

Texas State Penitentiary, Huntsville, Texas

This exquisitely crafted chest has a hinged lid that covers a protected interior sections. The outer form is articulated by a carefully rendered border that reveals it architecture and gives visual order to its form. The same border emphasizes the outline of the hip-roofed lid when the box is closed. Looking down on the lid, tiles with matching colored edges fill the planes within its borders. Once opened, four chambers are defined by the same oft repeated border, each one lined with white squares laid in diamond patterns. The diamond pattern feature is repeated on the inside of the lid where shiny white surfaces reflect back a warm radiance. Utilizing perhaps as many as 2000 cigarette boxes and wrappers, the artist-inmate has demonstrated extraordinary artistry as well
as an intuitive grasp of design principles such as rhythm, repetition, and balance.

Established in 1849, Huntsville Penitentiary is the oldest Texas State prison. It was a “Whites Only” prison during a period when blacks accused of crimes were beaten, lynched, or sent as “prison laborers” to work for privately owned plantations such as Huntsville’s Johnson Farm. After the 1865, Huntsville became Texa’s first integrated prison.

Presidential Pardon

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 03:35:36 +0000

Anon.

Presidential Pardon, 1968

Woven cigarette packaging

Huntsville Prison, Huntsville, Texas

Presidential Pardon is a purse made of woven cigarette boxes covered with postage stamps bearing images of former Presidents George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, Thomas Jefferson and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Additionally, there are also six cent stamps displaying the American flag. Simple in design, the purse has alternating bands organized by the pale colors of the stamps themselves. Each stamp came from mail delivered to the Prison and collected by the artisan-inmate.

Huntsville Prison was nicknamed “Walls Unit” because of its thick red brick walls. For its entire
history, racial tensions have been elevated at Huntsville Prison. Unfair treatment of inmates of color, whether while doing hard labor or at prison farms such as James Farm or later at Ellis Farm, essentially recreated 20th century conditions tantamount to slavery. In the summer of 1974 in what was to become America’s longest prison hostage situation, three armed inmates seized 10 prison employees and 4 other hostages at Huntsville.

The Cross

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 03:03:32 +0000

The Cross, 1950’s

Woven cigarette boxes

Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, Louisiana

Perhaps evoking religious reflection, this Christian icon of the Latin Cross was created from discarded Camel and Winston cigarette packages. The artisan used open or depressed spaces organized around a central diamond to anchor his design. Diamond squares bearing the letters “STON.” re-state the cross pattern. And finally, an outer border composed of camel ‘rear leg’ motifs completes the scheme.. Careful design choices are evident throughout, as demonstrated by the thoughtful creation of sunburst patterns at the extreme ends of all four arms of the cross.

Commonly called Angola, the prison was built on the site of an earlier slave plantation of the same name. Both recall Angola in western central Africa from which many enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas. In 1880, Confederate States of American Major Samuel James purchased the land that had been Angola Plantation and launched a business housing and managing inmates of the State. The practice of sentencing principally black men to hard labor in private industries and on farms for minor or no infractions at all was widespread throughout the post-Civil War south.

Deserted Destiny

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 02:39:31 +0000

Anon.

Deserted Destiny, 1950’s

Woven cigarette packaging

Rikers Island, Queens, New York

Deserted Destiny is artfully crafted from thousands of Camel cigarette boxes to form a pleasantly proportioned shoulder bag. Carefully chosen and subtle motifs are strategically repeated to create warm color fields that are defined by contrasting patterns of brown and white. The
overall composition is anchored by an image of the iconic signature camel visible just above an antique brass latch. Excellent design and masterful skills are evident.

Rikers Island, New York state’s largest correctional facility, counts among it most
famous inmates jazz greats Sonny Rollins, Sonny Clark and Elmo Hope whose album “Sounds of Rikers Island” is a memento. Other famous inmates included Tupac Shakur, David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), Lil Wayne, Dominique Strauss-Khan (former IMF Director) amongst many others. On a snowy day in February 1, 1957, Northeast Airlines flight *#23 crashed on the island resulting in 20 fatalities and more than 75 injuries to crew and passengers. The Warden (James Harrison) dispersed personnel and “good” inmates to assist in rescue operations, for which the inmates received reduced sentences and recognition as heroes.Shawn Powell.

Red and White

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 02:08:48 +0000

Red and White, 1965-69

Woven cigarette packaging

Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, Morgan County, Tennessee

Named for its palette, Red and White is created from more than 1000 Pall Mall cigarette boxes woven together into alternating red motifs set against white squares. The resulting checkerboard patterns recalls a familiar design that occurs widely throughout the rural South on table cloths in homes and cafes.

Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary opened in 1896 following the Coal Creek revolt of 1891. The revolt took place when mine owners attempted to replace employees with convict labor leased through the Tennessee Prison system. Miners took up arms against the Coal Company and its militia. Violence ensued forcing the Governor from office and leading to the abolition of the state convict-leasing program, but not before such labor built Brushy Mountain Penitentiary itself.

On February 11, 1982, a prison guard resigned after being accused of smuggling an
automatic pistol into the prison and giving it to Aryan brotherhood gang
members who used it to unload a hail of gunfire on a group of unsuspecting
black Inmates.

The F.D.R. Express

Twaters — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 01:53:03 +0000

Anon.

The F.D.R. Express, 1967

Woven cigarette packaging

Folsom State Prison, Folsom, California

FDR Express is a two-part artifact consisting of a clutch bag and a matching belt. Together, thousands of cigarette boxes and wrapper were required as well as an equally large number of 1966 Franklin D. Roosevelt six cent postage stamps. Securing the latter was an arduous task since stamps had to be gained by bartering with other inmates. The design approach uses both muted tones and repetition that give a momentary impression of snake skin. The impression is belied when upon closer inspection, the profusion of images of President Roosevelt become clearer. Fragmented and slightly varied, the stamps reinforce the geometry of the diagonal bands that articulate the purse’s surface while simultaneously melding the many squares into a visual whole.

Folsom State Prison, second oldest maximum-security prison in California, was built in 1880. Today, Folsom is home to 1,820 inmates, including Charles Manson, Suge Knight and the late Rick James.