Creating Art From Waste

I began collecting discarded materials in college when money was tight and the desire to create necessitated a certain kind of thriftiness and imagination. Over time, finding a use for and elevating the value of old conference banners, a used shower curtain or cardboard boxes became an important sub-narrative to the works I make. I’ve been interested in how commodity and material culture impacts and informs my sense of self, my perception of others, and how I assign value to objects. Always though, creating has been about personal healing and truth-seeking.

Enter single-use plastics. I became aware of the devastating impacts of plastics a while back and it caused me to change things in my own life. With the pandemic, I began seeing plastics in a way so profound I found myself feeling overwhelmed. Gloves, pop bottles, and takeaway containers began to line my street and plastic bags clung to the branches of trees outside my house. I did not know what to do other than to start picking them up. This drove me to question what does it mean when something is disposable, what is the true cost of convenience, who is most impacted by this plague of plastic, and what can we do with the plastics we currently have in circulation. I did a lot of research and interrogated my own relationship to plastics. It’s not lost on me that communities of color are disproportionately impacted by plastics in how they are marketed to us, the proximity to where we live and they are produced, and the limitations to how they are properly collected and discarded in our neighborhoods.

I began thinking about my ancestor’s pursuit for liberation and the sacrifices they made that were necessary to secure their future i.e. make it possible for me to exist. I also contemplated the rituals we partake in each year so that we remember their journeys. In this time of quarantine and isolation, we are forced to reimagine how we come together to celebrate holidays and traditions and we are also forced to grapple with the multitudes of urgent issues that plague us. I believe art can be a pathway forward for us.

This March, I created an installation, At Our Table, which was a reimagining of a Passover table constructed from locally sourced, discarded single-use plastics. Incorporating over 1,000 plastic bags, I cut, sewed, and wove them together to create a 20-foot table setting for four social-distance observing guests. It also included a collection space for the community to bring their single-use plastics which I will be cutting and creating ecobricks out of. When I say, locally-sourced, I mean all the materials were gathered in Detroit, and while At Our Table centered a discussion that anyone anywhere could take part in, Detroit is the corner of the world that I call home. This is where I am raising my son and teaching him to be a good steward of the earth and a caring citizen. Detroit is where I'm putting my energy and intention into repairing the world.

I created this work because I wanted to have a hard conversation about what sacrifices need to be made to secure a future for our children. I know how challenging it is to talk about the climate crisis and the hardship in understanding the impact of our individual actions. These conversations and personal examinations are emotional and overwhelming because of the urgency. This challenge has inspired me to examine the changes I need to make in my life and creative practice and to reconsider what I create and how it might cultivate space and prompt conversation and action.

I believe art can inspire us, heal us, and alter how we move through and see the world. My dream and what brings me joy is knowing that this project and the next phase I'm working on is redirecting harmful plastics out of my neighborhood and creating opportunities to spark a dialogue on the true cost of convenience while also igniting commitments and action so that we can secure a future free of plastic waste.