In the lead up to and aftermath of the 2016 Presidential election I found myself thinking about patriotism and rebellion.

I noticed so many slogans and signs. Everyone was claiming to be a true patriot, while drowning others out with hateful speech and lies. I wanted to make a symbol that was tied to my New England roots, something subtle that could be read in layers. I chose a lowercase “a” to function as an article, a scarlet letter “a.” I embroidered the U and S down the side to read as “us” in the big “a.”