children's uniforms, spray paint, rope
 
40 x 30 in
 
On the Yard is a textile work by Lex Marie created from her son’s school uniforms, arranged into a divided composition that mirrors the parallel structures of the school yard and the prison yard. Half of the garments retain their original neutral tones, while the other half is spray-painted a stark prison-orange. This sharp shift in color exposes the visual and psychological proximity between childhood environments and carceral systems, highlighting the realities of the school-to-prison pipeline. By using her own child’s clothing, Marie makes the subject deeply personal while speaking to broader systemic issues affecting Black children nationwide. The uniforms, symbols of order, innocence, and early identity become stand-ins for the ways institutions discipline and shape young lives. The transformation of these garments into prison-like hues underscores the vulnerability of Black youth to adultification, the persistent societal bias that views them as older, less innocent, and more threatening than their peers. The work also draws attention to the structural similarities between public schools and prisons: standardized dress, surveillance, controlled movement, and rigid behavioral expectations. In bringing these garments together in a single plane, Marie collapses two environments meant to be distinct but often function in connected ways for marginalized communities. A rope runs horizontally across the piece, marking a boundary while also binding the two halves together. It suggests both separation and inevitability, pointing to the thin line Black children navigate between being nurtured and being criminalized. Ultimately, On the Yard invites viewers to confront how easily childhood can be overshadowed by systemic bias. Through familiar materials transformed into a stark commentary, Marie critiques the cycles that funnel Black children from spaces of learning into carceral systems, calling for urgent awareness and change.