Long After Me, 2018
Long After Me started during a summer residency in 2018 on Block Island, RI. I was struck by the beauty of the landscape on Block Island. When I saw trash on the beach or in the dunes, it seemed so wrong and out of place. I started to collect the trash and embroider the bits of plastic and metal to felt. The collages recall the natural environment of the dunes, the deep underwater, beach roses, barnacles and coral, while being constructed from man-made waste.
Making art with trash helps me engage in the conversation around personal responsibility and the environment, helps me examine my role as a guest on the Island, and in some tiny way makes me feel like I’m doing less harm by offering some visual joy. Bigger systemic changes must happen to stop climate change and extinction, but sometimes it feels like the only thing you can do is one small act.
