Ja’Hari Ortega: Big Hoops to Fill

Big Hoops to Fill is a large-scale sculpture designed by Boston-based artist, sculptor, and jewelry maker Ja’Hari Ortega (she/her). The artwork features two outsized golden bamboo hoop earrings –also known as “door knocker earrings” – that function as interactive swings. Cast from fiberglass with steel interior supports, the earrings hang from a swing set frame that echoes the one the artist grew up playing on in Roxbury, MA.

Ortega’s sculpture draws upon the cultural weight of bamboo hoop earrings, an iconic style of jewelry worn by many women of color that originated from early hip-hop culture and fashion, worn by performers such as Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Roxanne Shanté, and Queen Latifah, and featured in song lyrics by LL Cool J. As journalist Ivette Feliciano observes, these earrings “symbolize resistance and bear cultural significance [especially for] immigrant communities rooted in Indigenous and African traditions.”

By rendering bamboo hoop earrings at monumental scale in the center of downtown Boston, the artist not only centers the everyday lives of women of color in public space, but also invites them to the artwork to play, rest, and relax. Such moments can be challenging to access for Black and Brown women, who are oftentimes discouraged or excluded –both structurally and specifically– from engaging in playful experiences. As the artist herself shares, Big Hoops to Fill creates opportunities to “heal one’s inner child, cultivate and encourage healthy multigenerational relationships, and foster confidence in one’s identity and culture.”