2025_Hyperobjects
During my ArtCrawlHarlem residency on Governors Island, I collected waste polystyrene foam that the wind blows off the ocean onto the island. Originating from food packaging, insulation, and marine industry, these items have been transformed by the elements into pebble-like forms with dark creases of dirt that look exactly like veins in natural stone. Even though I was first attracted by the beauty of them, it shocked me to see how these petroleum based pebbles break down - but never disappear - into our soil. They have become part of the air we inhale, poisoning our bodies. As we know, micro-plastics are one of the greatest manmade disasters of our time. As a new form of colonization by consumerism these ‘hyperobjects’ (cfr. Timothy Morton) are found all over our planet, even on undeveloped land.
I was inspired by the layers of history and the wilted glory of the 1890's officers' house on Colonels Row, to create an installation on the peeling ceiling with white expanded polystyrene that I collected from the islands' shore.
While collaborating with nature in this work, I am reflecting on the legacy of the Anthropocene and the urgency of addressing plastic pollution. In order to move towards wholeness, we need to honor Mother Earth and acknowledge the violence we are committing to her body, and as an extension to ourselves.