Rooted In Work: Modern office life can be a form of mental and emotional captivity

Rooted In Work depicts a figure slumped over a desk, surrounded by coffee cups and a piggy bank—a striking metaphor for how labor exploitation and systemic stress consume human life.

Through figurative sculpture and conceptual art, the piece critiques the commodification of people, emphasizing that freedom from oppression and equitable treatment in the workplace are fundamental human rights.

The work challenges audiences to reflect on societal structures that value productivity over well-being. Many accept grueling work schedules, inadequate support, and economic precarity as inevitable, but this normalization reinforces systemic inequality.

By visualizing exhaustion and entrapment, the sculpture forces viewers to question how they participate in systems that exploit labor while undermining autonomy.

Rooted In Work also examines the broader societal implications of this exploitation. Economic inequality, corporate hierarchy, and normalized overwork shape culture, mental health, and personal freedom.

The piece asserts that justice requires rethinking how labor is valued and how people are empowered to claim dignity, balance, and opportunity.

Ultimately, this sculpture is both critique and call to action. It emphasizes that freedom from systemic exploitation and equality in opportunity are non-negotiable. Society’s progress depends on recognizing people as human beings first, not resources or cogs in a machine.

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