Joy Curtis’ sculptural works are formed by weaving long strands of fabric together, creating shapes that evoke skeletal structures of the body which protect the bronze-cast objects suspended inside like talismans or organs. Curtis’ studies of natural and synthetic dyes have informed her decision to use indigo and madder root dye, “both grown under colonial powers and are deeply tied to the commodification of agriculture and human bodies within mercantile economies”. Contrasted with the red synthetic dye used for the inner body muscles, tendons, and ligaments highlights the ways in which the invention of synthetic dyes was “instrumental in ending slave labor and other abusive labor practices globally”.