The works in Untrustworthy Ground invert accepted notions of value and valor. Wilmer Wilson IV’s monuments enshrine public messages in concrete with great care while enthusiastically spilling molten bronze in a way that might be considered wasteful by the traditional craftsman. In doing so, Wilmer Wilson IV suggests a glimpse of a reality in which power — the power to determine who gets remembered and why — belongs to each of us.

"The idea is there is a way in which this work can propose an arresting of authority from a disembodied, or external entity or group and pose the possibility of the viewer seizing that for themselves and their community. Their landscape. Their group of people. And that feels like a major, life-long interest in my work: Generating strategies, devices or tactics for doing that." — Wilmer Wilson IV