Karyn Alzayer

I just need to share how my cat lays on the back of the couch. Behold the Tangie Sploot.

#NoKings Boston

Today I had to sit on hold with my health insurance while they sort out with my provider why one of my claims wasn’t paid. Apparently they can’t do that unless I sit on hold the whole time while they confer. There is no more perfect time to sit and draw a historically accurate medieval trebuchet.

Thank you for reaching out, and thank you for encouraging me to share this here. I’m much better with visuals than words, and usually prefer to let my work speak for itself. But you’re right, it is still so relevant, even if it’s from 2019.

I thought about what you said, and I went ahead and shared my caged ducklings photo and statement here too. Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to me to share it here as well.

but when it comes to what their real fate might be in this country as immigrants, it’s erased pretty quickly rather than opening up a conversation about that. And I think it speaks volumes about how quickly we can free someone who is caged when we think it’s important to do so.

I went by early Friday morning and saw that my installation had already been removed. And I think it’s interesting that the ducks can wear Easter bonnets, Red Sox hats, and Pat’s jerseys,

and with our taxpayer dollars at these so-called migrant detention centers. I prefer to call them concentration camps, because that’s what they are.

The ducklings seem small and delicate, but the cages were enormous. And holding those materials in my hands really made me think even more about the wrongness of what we’re allowing to happen in our name,

It almost feels that these specific materials are used on purpose, to provide warmth yet without comfort.

And they’re loud. The crinkling sound they make is almost deafening when you’re wrapped up in one. You can’t think over the sound of it. And when I thought of children, ripped away from their parents, and given only this, it’s a lot to take in.

Holding those mylar blankets was really what made it real for me. They may provide warmth, but they do so in the coldest way possible. The thing that’s comforting about being wrapped in a blanket is the weight of it, along with the warmth. And there is absolutely no weight to those things.

this would be their fate. And since the statue of them is absolutely so beloved, it’s a powerful metaphor about who we get upset about caging and who we don’t.

I realized I could be lending my voice to this conversation as well as my ability to create visuals.

The Mallards are an iconic immigrant family in Boston. In the book, they moved here for a better life, they were looking for a place to stay. And if that were to happen during this climate today,

My full statement from Aug 2019: “People have been asking if I have anything further to say about my Make Way for Ducklings adaptation. At first, my response was "No, I left my statement in the park on Friday." But as the story has gained more traction,

Image of a side view of the Boston Public Garden’s Make Way for Ducklings bronze sculpture piece by Nancy Schön, with mother duck Mrs. Mallard followed by her 8 baby ducklings. The bronze ducks are covered with cages made from chicken wire and pvc pipe by artist Karyn Alzayer, with each duckling wrapped in a small mylar blanket. There are 2 baby ducklings per cage, with Mrs. Mallard caged alone, a total of 5 cages.

This was an installation I made in Boston back in 2019. I wish it wasn’t still relevant and needed. But it is.

Oh wow, thank you for the kind words! I’m both glad it’s still making an impact and sorry it was needed in the first place (and still needed/relevant).

It’s part of a series, mine is one of 9 pieces along the wall. Lots of great artwork, and I’m proud to be included among them!

That mural panel I have been working on finally got installed!

A stylized painting of the Boston skyline with a red and orange sunset.

My submission for America: Nature's Gift mural mosaic. My assigned palette was Warm. Can’t wait to see the final mural! connect.muralmosaic.com

A collection of 4 Canada Goose feathers spread out on a purple tablecloth with henna designs drawn on them, and a henna cone nearby.

On slow days, sometimes I like to henna things I find on the ground. Today there were lots of goose feathers on the ground near where I set up my tent at the farmers market.

Thanks!

I keep thinking about how women are most at risk of being murdered by abusive men after they've decided to leave the relationship and it's not exactly a subtle comparison to what's being done to the USA at the moment

We arts professionals have said arts are vital. But instead this all has to be real. We all could have enjoyed movies, ballets, plays, books, poetry, music, art, etc exploring this subject but no. Now we have to live it just so there will be a story to tell. WE COULD HAVE JUST MADE UP A STORY.

The artists have been trying to make this point for generations. What we do is vital because it unravels and prevents precisely this, while giving meaning, building trust, and fostering empathy and joy.

Screenshot of a post by user Sonny Bunch from 4/7/25 that says: It will never cease to amaze that Americans basically just got bored of having the best lives on the planet so they elected a lunatic to blow it up in the hopes of building some microwave factories for their children to find meaning in.

We said arts are vital. But instead this all has to be real. We all could have enjoyed movies, ballets, plays, books, poetry, music, art, etc exploring this subject. But no. Now we have to live it just so there will be a story to tell. WE COULD HAVE JUST MADE UP A STORY, YOU ABSOLUTE RIVER ROCKS

Did some henna for myself this week. #artist

From Boston:

if you’re an artist who ever thought “what’s the point? The world is Hell and I should do something that matters instead”

even in an ICE detention center people will treat art as sacred, seek it out, and find joy and comfort in it. You aren’t making art, you’re making hope.