UNDERCURRENT: PLASTICINE

Undercurrent: Plasticine, reimagines and recontextualizes everyday objects to confront the quiet omnipresence of plastic—an insidious material often hidden in plain sight. Typically relegated to the role of packaging, plastic reveals the invisible infrastructure of consumption: sealing, containing, and protecting what we consume before being immediately discarded. These objects—wrappers, bags, seals, and containers—are fleeting in use yet enduring in consequence. Through careful selection, alteration, and presentation, this work highlights the tension between utility and waste, function, and aftermath.

By foregrounding objects we typically ignore, Undercurrent: Plasticine asks viewers to reconsider the lifecycle of the materials that pass through our hands daily. It is an invitation to witness the scale of our dependence and to interrogate the consequences of disposability—posing difficult questions about permanence, accumulation, and our collective imprint on the planet.

Undercurrent: Plasticine, 2019

Filmy plastics, grocery bags, packaging materials, saran wrap, and various non-recyclable plastics collected over a year

25’ x 15’ x 40’

For a year I collected the non-recyclable plastic material consumed by my family of four. During this time, my awareness of the ubiquitous nature of this material continuously grew, and I felt compelled to collect any and all non-recyclable materials that I could possibly come across. This included items found on the streets, objects encountered at gatherings, festivals, sporting events, even summer camps. My obsession spread to my extended family and friends, who began to bring me their non-recyclable items. This installation shows the scope of this collecting exercise.