2008-2012. Stitched Plastic Shopping Bags.
When objects become embedded into the fabric of our daily lives, they become ordinary and insignificant. One such object, the plastic shopping bag, has consumed my work.
Quilted Consumption is an attempt to recapture what has become mundane. During the depression era foodstuffs came in cloth, rather than plastic, bags with intricate designs. Many thrifty women would collect this fabric and create quilts and clothing. Eventually, business economics drove cloth bags to plastic.
Consumption Mill. Front view. Recycled plastic bags, thread, wood, plexiglas, flourescent lights. 2010. 28" x 20" x 10.25".
Consumption Mill. Side view. Recycled plastic bags, thread, wood, plexiglas, flourescent lights. 2010. 28" x 20" x 10.25".
Consumption Mill. Back view. Recycled plastic bags, thread, wood, plexiglas, flourescent lights. 2010. 28" x 20" x 10.25".
Despite their pleas for reuse and their cultural plentitude, the reuse value of each plastic shopping bag is limited in scope. Many bags rip and tear after only a handful of toting expeditions. Each is ultimately discarded to slowly decompose in a landfill.
Stitching is an impractical process for assembling plastic. The material is unforgiving. Some bags are stretchy and easily become misshapen. Accidental punctures of the needle on the slick surface of the plastic are permanent and fixed. The bags resist, yet I feel a strong desire to conquer them with my thread, as I long for the sensibility of the feedsack era. I cut individual elements and shapes from each bag. I use line, color and shape to discover relationships and develop stories. For me, each piece in Quilted Consumption is a nuanced and fantastical portrait of consumptive behavior.
Each piece is framed and hung to mirror both the cultural reverence of consumption and the cultural subversion of plastic shopping bags as waste.
Consumption Device. Front View. Machine stitched plastic Target shopping bags. 2010. 9" x 9" x 4".
Consumption Device. Top view. Machine stitched plastic Target shopping bags. 2010. 9" x 9" x 4".
Consumption Portrait #1 (Contemplation). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2009. 10.5" x 13.5".
Consumption Portrait #1 (Contemplation). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2009. 10.5" x 13.5".
Consumption Portrait #2 (Power). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2009. 10.5" x 13.5".
Consumption Portrait #2 (Power). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2009. 10.5" x 13.5".
Consumption Portrait #3 (Hills and Valleys). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread on vellum. 2009. 8" x 10".
Consumption Portrait #3 (Hills and Valleys). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread on vellum. 2009. 8" x 10".
Consumption Portrait #4 (Ecosystem). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread on vellum. 2010. 11" x 14".
Consumption Portrait #4 (Ecosystem). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread on vellum. 2010. 11" x 14".
Consumption Portrait #5 (Dialogue). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread on paper. 2010. 5" x 7".
Consumption Portrait #5 (Dialogue). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread on paper. 2010. 5" x 7".
Consumption Portrait #7 (Dubai to New York). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 7" x 7.5".
Consumption Portrait #7 (Dubai to New York). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 7" x 7.5".
Consumption Portrait #8 (Chute). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 5.5" x 7.5".
Consumption Portrait #8 (Chute). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 5.5" x 7.5".
Consumption Portrait #9 (Constraints). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 8" x 10".
Consumption Portrait #9 (Constraints). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 8" x 10".
Consumption Portrait #10 (Digestion). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2011. 8" x 11".
Consumption Portrait #10 (Digestion). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2011. 8" x 11".
Consumption Portrait #11 (Side Show). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 6.5" x 9.5".
Consumption Portrait #11 (Side Show). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 6.5" x 9.5".
Consumption Portrait #12 (Great Atlantic Garbage Patch). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 8.5" x 9.5".
Consumption Portrait #12 (Great Atlantic Garbage Patch). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2010. 8.5" x 9.5".
Consumption Portrait #13 (Micro-organisms). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2011. 16.5" x 16".
Consumption Portrait #13 (Micro-organisms). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2011. 16.5" x 16".
Consumption Portrait #14 (Escape). Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2011. 8" x 9".
Consumption Portrait #14 (Escape). Detail. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 2011. 8" x 9".
Consumption Portrait #15 (Epic Narrative). Detail. Recycled plastic bags and thread. 2011. 8" x 8".
Consumption Portrait #15 (Epic Narrative). Recycled plastic bags and thread. 2011. 8" x 8".
Consumption Portrait #16 (Lifeline). 2011. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 7" x 7".
Consumption Portrait #16 (Lifeline). Detail. 2011. Recycled plastic shopping bags and thread. 7" x 7".
Consumption Quilt Study #2. Recycled plastic shopping bags. 2008. 10.75" x 10.75".
: Consumption Quilt #3 (After Tradition). 2008. Machine stitched recycled plastic shopping bags. 13.5" x 13.5".
Consumption Quilt #4 (After Tradition 2). Machine-stitched recycled plastic shopping bags. 2008. 23" x 22.5".
Consumption Quilt #5 (Invader). 2008. Machine-stitched plastic shopping bags. 16" x 16".
