My artistic practice investigates the interplay between humanity, materiality, and the environment, where I challenge Westernized concepts of nature and waste. I explore how waste materials, especially plastics, hold potential, agency, and kinship when it comes to imagining an ecologically considered future. Inspired by Indigenous perspectives like Max Liboiron’s concept of plastic as “kin,” my work emphasizes that these materials are not inert, but part of dynamic ecosystems that persist long after their intended use. This perspective drives me to rethink waste as valuable and deserving of respect, care, and creative re-imagination.
Plastics, with their origins in fossilized ancient organisms and their ubiquity in modern life, are fascinating to me and exemplify this kinship. Their lifecycle, from crude oil extraction to single-use objects and eventual pollution, reveals a striking disconnect in how Western capitalism values materials. The juxtaposition of my own weekly biodegradable groceries with their nearly eternal plastic packaging underscores this imbalance. Through acts of craft, mending, and experimentation, I aim to re-enchant plastic waste material, by acknowledging its deep-time context and addressing its environmental and social implications. By transforming these discarded materials into art installations, I invite participants to see these materials hopefully no longer as waste, but as entities with stories, significance, and a future.
My work is rooted in community-specific engagement. I repurpose materials like plastic agricultural feed bags and fishing nets from local waste streams, and I often combine them with foraged organic elements and experimental bioplastics when constructing my art installations. I focus on preserving the material’s identity in my finished work to maintain viewer familiarity and foster a deeper understanding of the material’s presence and possibility. Through localized, participatory practices like art workshops, part of my practice has evolved to engage with communities and help them reimagine their relationships with waste.
Ultimately, my practice advocates for a perspective shift from disenchanted consumption to an ethic of care and kinship with materials. By bridging art, craft, and ecological thought, I hope to challenge dominant paradigms and inspire action towards a regenerative, circular economy. Through re-enchantment, my work aspires to reconnect humanity with the material world and its more-than-human parts, which I hope will help foster a future grounded in responsibility, curiosity, and ecological consideration.