Solo Exhibition, The Brink Gallery, Missoula, MT 2012
My work is rooted in the idea that convenience is not necessity. In the globally connected time that we are living in I am incessantly concerned that we in this country choose to live in a disposable climate with our consumption of consumer goods. The concept of purchasing a new, ‘green’, thing when our old thing is still functional is baffling to me.
I have taken on the task of harvesting these relics and deconstructing them to use materials that have a history of the time in which they were relevant. That voice, though dated, is still significant. If we overlook the past when determining the path of the future - we miss out on the lessons that history can bring to that conversation.
This body of work stems from thoughts about obsolescence and how fast it occurs in contemporary culture. Relics of instruction & education of my childhood had a very long shelf life, typically two decades. Today we are looking at 4 years as a standard before replacement is necessary. This concerns me. How we are dealing (or not) with the discarded & disposable materials, thoughts, and technological advancements of a culture connected? I get stuck in that space that sees all the unnecessary advances in manufacturing & production & I often wonder; ‘at what point will we have enough?’
Second Hand Icons seeing the world again for the first time., found objects, wiggle eyes, adhesives. 2011 Private Collection Missoula MT
*This piece has been reinvented several times, what started as a collection of colorless tchotchkes for a show in 2006 has evolved to a study in self observation & values given to each character based on their conceptual origins. That is to say in collecting these the more western, faith-based objects were far more expensive than their eastern counterparts. Cutesy animals netted the highest price. What does this say about our culture?
Detail; Second Hand Icons seeing the world again for the first time, found objects, wiggle eyes, adhesives. 2011
Agricultural Communication Module #1, gourd, rattrap, rusted tin can, telephone parts. 2012
*These objects were born through my love for the mid century design of the telephone, my disdain for the politics of the cell/smart phone, and the desire to bring back the tin can on a string.
Agricultural Communication Module #2, gourd, cedar, telephone parts. 2012
*These objects were born through my love for the mid century design of the telephone, my disdain for the politics of the cell/smart phone, and the desire to bring back the tin can on a string.
Enlightening, 1960’s era educational filmstrips, cedar board, led lighting, white Plexiglas, hardware. 2012
*Upon acquiring a large amount of these still slide film strips used in classrooms from the late 1950’s through mid 1970’s the sensible thing for me was to weave them illuminating the connectedness of their information & historical relevance.
Detail; Enlightening, 1960’s era educational filmstrips, cedar board, led lighting, white Plexiglas, hardware. 2012
Spaces Unnecessarily Inhabited, plaster castings taken from packaging of products I have purchased in 2011/2011. Completed in 2012
*Beginning in Summer 2011 I decided to start collecting all the non-recyclable, non-reusable packaging generated from any product purchase I made. As a self-proclaimed ‘low consumption individual’ I was shocked at how much space/waste was quickly adding up. As I cast these empty voids in plaster I was torn between wanting the piece to grow larger & changing my decisions in purchasing. What remained were the objects where no other options were available, as well as containers that were brought to my home & left by guests.
Spaces Unnecessarily Inhabited, plaster castings taken from packaging of products I have purchased in 2011/2011. Completed in 2012
*Beginning in Summer 2011 I decided to start collecting all the non-recyclable, non-reusable packaging generated from any product purchase I made. As a self-proclaimed ‘low consumption individual’ I was shocked at how much space/waste was quickly adding up. As I cast these empty voids in plaster I was torn between wanting the piece to grow larger & changing my decisions in purchasing. What remained were the objects where no other options were available, as well as containers that were brought to my home & left by guests.
Old School Building Blocks, hemlock, pine, 1970’s microfiche slides, 1960’s film strips, paint, hardware. 2012
This piece is revisiting some of my work with line in space from the 1980’s but incorporates the relics from the 1960’s/70’s. The microfiche cards were acquired from a 1970’s collection of art trade magazines.
iEnd, iMac G3, wood table legs, hardware, paint, obsolete cd’s. 2012
*The used/discarded/obsolete CD”s used for the backdrop in this piece were collected over the last two years from libraries updating their ‘books on disc’ classroom aides, radio stations digitally storing their libraries, and friends/colleagues discarded, scratched, unplayable CD’s. In my community there is no means of recycling these products.