Plastic Deposits on the Fossil Record
Plastic debris breaks down and is washed to the sea where ocean currents corral the bits together. Making up massive gyres, the plastic continues to degrade into smaller particles. Tiny pieces of broken-down plastic wash ashore, and with heat, combine with naturally occurring rock to create strange formations. These new rocks mark a new Anthropocene epoch that informs this series.
I begin by photocopying plastic containers I have used to make collage materials. I repeatedly break apart, mix, and recombine these pieces to make final images to screen print onto felt made of recycled plastic bottles. I use heat press dyes to create layers of hyper color strata, and suede base in plastic colors.
Photocopies are repurposed along with donated single-use materials to create the underlying structure for mixed media paintings. Layers of oil paint are poured over extenuating and concealing the surfaces below. The act of adding a traditional art material in combination with the practice of hanging it on a wall for display offer a new way to view these ordinary designed objects that fill the background of our lives.