Slow Motion | Sandy Williams IV, The Wax Monuments

Sandy Williams IV’s TheWax Monuments series is a provocation that invites people to exercise agency and control over public symbols that are typically deemed “permanent” and “untouchable” by law and mainstream American society. Since 2017, Williams has produced wax replicas of famous monuments to historical figures, 3-D scanning them to create molds in a variety of different sizes, from the over-life-size to the miniature. By reproducing them in wax, a highly malleable and ephemeral material, the artist (re)creates experimental contexts for visitors to participate in the life cycles of historic monuments.  

In this version of the series, miniaturized wax replicas of iconic symbols from around the nation—Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, the Statue of Liberty in New York City, Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, NC, Stonewall Jackson in Richmond, VA, Martin Luther King, Jr. in D.C—are staged atop a long pedestal inspired by the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The steps of the Lincoln Memorial are a potent site of memory for democratic convening and political demonstration, from Marian Anderson’s 1939 concert performance to the 1963 March on Washington and the 1985 AIDS Memorial Quilt. Today, the steps continue to serve as a stage for collective action–where “the people” speak back to the systems of power and oppression, pressuring America’s promises of liberty, equality, and justice to become a reality for all.

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