I am a visual artist, researcher and recycler. My practice redesigns systems of making, living and working to be more empathetic, collaborative and sustainable. Recently my work investigates material re-use and recycling through site-based paper-making.
The materials that I use are often foraged, collected and scavenged. Shower water, paper litter and food waste combine to form a malleable pulp representative of the unvalued excrement of capitalist culture. I reroute these materials from the waste stream to sites of deep appreciation and care. I spend time with them, intimately studying them before blending them and reforming them into forms that may reference the familiar everyday, but resist notions of mass-production, commodification, obsolescence and disposal. I value these forms as artifacts and present them in artistic and scientific formats where they can continue to be investigated and appreciated for the lessons they teach. The objects and installations I present often evolve over time, making the artistic work ongoing, collaborative, public and pedagogical; embracing natural systems of process, rather than product.
I consider my work a reflective practice in learning to do less harm by decreasing my own waste, utilizing foraged waste, and revealing “waste” as a construct that should be reimagined and reformed. I think notions of “waste” are tools of a consumerist culture that enforce harmful individualism, creating a physical and psychological disconnect between us as humans, our environment and all other organisms of our world. I aim to increase attention to this disconnect and tend to it by creating situations (in my sourcing, processing, documentation and installation) that facilitate connection and kinship between seemingly contrasting entities. Furthermore, I intend for my art practice to unify gaps between art and life, creating a holistic life practice where creative work happens outside of the studio, in unconventional, domestic, ecological and public spheres.