Yucca, 2022
Fine art print, mounted on dibond, framed with UV-printed glas, 50cm x 40cm
Yucca filamentosa is a species of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, native to the Southeastern USA. Archaeological literature suggests that African Americans in the Southeastern USA employed yucca as grave markers in 19th-20th century cemeteries. The phrase “pushing up yucca” has been coined to describe these graveyards, and there was a Gullah belief that spiny plants restricted the movement of the spirits of the dead. Referred to as the eternity plant, yucca plants can live for hundreds of years. If the headstone is broken, buried, or missing, a yucca plant could be the only way to identify the location of an unmarked grave.
