Quilts were always made from the scraps of our lives, so it follows that today’s quilts should be constructed not of brand new fabric that is cut into pieces, but from the scrap that fills our trash bags. Realizing this, I began to salvage colorful, single-use plastic packaging from my trash and created this quilt, titled Drops in the Ocean. In this quilt, concentric rings of warm and cool blues burst out of the 9x9 grid of a traditional quilting pattern, symbolizing how this material we’ve invented has escaped our ability to contain it, particularly in our waterways. But the quilt is also visually pleasing, symbolizing the value that these plastics add to our lives. Individual packaging prevents food spoilage and pest infestation, it increases shelf-life allowing it to be shipped farther from its point of origin, it can aid in portion control when, particularly in America, we have lost the ability to regulate the amount of food we consume and are facing dire health consequences as a result. So rather than make my work overtly disturbing, I attempt to find a balance that accurately reflects all the positive impacts plastics have on our lives while still acknowledging the problems it poses.
- Collections: The Scraps of Our Lives