Flags serve as symbols, often denoting nationality. With pride and a sense of belonging, flags are flown in battles, parades, and at World Cup games. When we encounter them, we automatically absorb the information and assumptions they carry— language, culture, geography, religion.

Ess McKee’s latest exhibit makes use of flags that in their typical contexts, might only symbolize nationality or patriotism. It’s her manner of display, of distortion, that transforms them into distress signals and ties them to a current political issue. A Nigerian flag with red paint covering its white center stripe evokes blood; the Mexican flag, formed into the shape of a teddy bear, sits inside a bird cage, hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room; the U.S. flag, flipped upside down, is covered in black paint, with red dripping down the hem.

A wrinkled paper sign hangs on the wall, with the definition of the word “distress”: a state of danger or desperate need. It serves as a unifying banner in its own right, connecting the series of flags under a common voice, calling out together in distress and calling for justice.

If the message somehow escapes its audience, McKee makes it clear with each title. The Nigerian flag, “#ENDSARS,” a reference to the country’s police task force that has been credited with high rates of violence against civilians; the Mexican flag, “Dream Detained”, linking the detention centers and family separation of Latin American migrants at the U.S. border to the Dreamers of DACA, a legal protection for people who came to the U.S. as children; the U.S. flag, “Black America in Distress.”

McKee eskews subtlety in favor of shock for the viewer. She has described her art as a “way of vocalizing the graffiti words and images in my head,” and that intense and rebellious spirit is apparent in each piece.

In addition to her work as a full time graphic designer and visual artist, McKee is also no stranger to utilizing art as activism. McKee was one of the eighteen artists who participated in the Black Lives Matter street mural on Indiana Avenue*. She creatively reimagines materials, confronts assumptions, and inspires those who interact with her art and her classes for youth with ReGeneration Indy.

Distress Signal is on display at the Harrison Center in Hank & Dolly’s Gallery through Nov. 30.

Art available for purchase.

*These artists have a group show on display at the Indianapolis Arts Center, through January 2021, called Eighteen: Black Lives Matter.