All-y All-y in Free

May Stevens

1996

Assemblage of torn newspaper clippings, photocopies, broken green glass bottle, human hair, cigarette butts, matches, with cigarette holes and singe marks, mounted to mat board

Minneapolis Institute of Art

May Stevens’s assemblage, All-y, All-y in Free, is a memorial to a young girl named Elisa. In 1995, six-year old Elisa Izquierdo was savagely tortured and beaten to death in her own home by her drug-addicted mother. One of the most horrific cases of child abuse in New York City history, the circumstances of Elisa’s murder deeply affected even the most street-hardened police officers and other public officials and elicited intense sorrow and anger among ordinary citizens. What was so disheartening for many was how the “system” had failed young Elisa. Her relatives, neighbors, and teachers had repeatedly warned child welfare officials