PLASTICS

One season in 2019 I created a series with bits of found plastic. Take-out cups, wind-blown industrial plastic I rescued from bare trees in the spring, bottle caps. I found nests with plastic woven into the structure. I saved my water bottle from a trip to the Netherlands. Functional plastic pieces that we can’t seem to live without and mostly disregard as we unwrap flowers from the market. All of my images feature local garden flowers and the living creatures that make their homes in our backyards. Birds and their nests, bees and honey, moths, butterflies and cicadas. All of those natural things fade and compost into dirt for the next generation except the plastic, so synonymous with human activity. I liked the contrast between natural and unnatural, the tension between the beautiful tulips and the discarded trash. These still life images are a nod to the old masters Momento Mori painting and an entirely modern assemblage.