Portal III (Federal Fire), 2026

Kevin Beasley

Kevin Beasley: Hi my name is Kevin Beasley and my work is titled Portal III (Federal Fire).

This work is a way for me as an artist to ask questions about colonial history through readily available materials in North America. From the Red Oak wood, native to the country and seen has a vital source of food and survival, to the Regency Mirrors that originated in England in the early 19th Century and eventually becoming synonymous with Federal style architecture in North America, the materials are a way for me to engage in a kind of storytelling that creates a domestic world that is malleable and modular.

These mirrors, cast in cotton, are remixes that reflect aspects of a shared Western pervasiveness that remains persistent today. At the heart of the work are fabrics sourced from F. Schumacher Co, an historical interior design and textiles manufacturer that were designed specifically for Colonial Williamsburg – tying the fabric to an aesthetics of power, privilege and imperialism.

When I was in the studio working on this, I kept asking myself, “What does this all look like together?” What happens when plantation homes begin to burn down? Or historically never survived their time? Is there something to be said about what it truly means to live in a changing landscape and if nothing burns down to the ground then have we really seen a change? Portal III is concerned, I believe, with transporting us into different spaces and times.