SMOKESTACK SERIES
Leaning into the irony of spending dozens of hours to keep a handful of plastic bags from the landfill, The Smokestack Series, started in 2021, calls attention to the disconnect between recycling as the “personal responsibility” of individual end consumers and the massive scale of pollution and waste caused by global industry.
As a process-driven work, the Smokestack basketry coiling technique informs further pieces of the installation. Tied together, handle and seam scraps from cutting the bags become clouds of smoke filling the air. They are literally and figuratively the byproduct of the Smokestack "manufacturing" process. These Stack Scraps are also the subject of study in accompanying ink drawings on handmade recycled paper.
The aim of this series is that someday in the not-too-distant future, these sculptures can no longer be made, as the single-use plastic they're made of will be obsolete.
As a process-driven work, the Smokestack basketry coiling technique informs further pieces of the installation. Tied together, handle and seam scraps from cutting the bags become clouds of smoke filling the air. They are literally and figuratively the byproduct of the Smokestack "manufacturing" process. These Stack Scraps are also the subject of study in accompanying ink drawings on handmade recycled paper.
The aim of this series is that someday in the not-too-distant future, these sculptures can no longer be made, as the single-use plastic they're made of will be obsolete.
