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Bar of Soap

This object symbolizes an insistence on silence. When Anderson was three years old, she unwittingly uttered a profane word in her mother's kitchen. In part because her mother's church friends heard the utterance, Anderon's mother immediately used this object to punish her daughter mercilessly. Anderson states that this incident taught her that some words carry too much power to be spoken aloud.

Brake Drum

This object symbolizes the impermanence of life. When Anderson's father was 18, he was working alongside a military buddy as they worked on military planes together. In an instant, an accident occurred and Anderson's father watched as this object sliced his friend's head completely in half.

Set of False Teeth

This object symbolizes the permanent effects that even one episode of domestic violence can have on a family. In an episode of extreme violence ostensibly precipitated by Anderson's father's PTSD, he beat...

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