Artist Statement

Isolation of Solitary Confinement

Miles Bryant

My art piece is about solitary confinement. It depicts a model of a confinement cell. The cells, otherwise known as the SHU (Specialized Housing Units), are rarely larger than six feet by eight feet. The cell I created is made of maple and horn wood and is about six inches by eight inches, so it is a scaled size of a typical cell. Some of the tools I used were a belt sander, a file sander, a bandsaw, and a Dremel. In addition, the man in the cell was 3D printed.

One of the ideas behind my project is to show how small the solitary confinement cell actually is. When I show the size of the cell, I can imagine how it would feel to be there. One of my goals for this project is to help people know how it would feel to be in a cell like this. As I was researching for this project, I learned that many people in solitary confinement only have five hours of free time a week. I also learned that the prisoner's shower, bed, and toilet are all bolted to the ground in the cell. Some of the prisoners there are in the cells for life, not just for a couple of weeks. For example, someone spent 44 years in solitary confinement! This is the longest time ever spent in solitary confinement. Different states have different rules about solitary confinement. Some states say the time of solitary confinement can be less than three months; others are much less strict. 

When I imagine how it would feel to live in that cell, I can tell that people who are in there would not be the same when they come out of the cell. Just the thought of being in there makes me feel bored. My 3D art piece will help others think twice about solitary confinement.