Artist Statement:
After taking a tour of the Portland METRO Waste Transfer Station, I was left with an appreciation for what is being done there. Amidst a stark industrial backdrop, sorted piles tower: foliage, lumber, compost. While there is a significant recycling element, it is also clear that we, the public, are disposing of immense quantities of reusable material.
There are certain programs in place to help raise awareness of the potential reusability of what we often throw out as "junk." Recology, the company who runs the facility for Portland Metro Waste Transfer, works with Portland artists who are selected every year to put together a body of work created from items gleaned at Metro. When a friend of mine who works at Recology was tasked with selecting 8 centerpieces for their annual employee owners recognition lunch, he asked me if I was interested.
Leaving art school in the year 2000 after only one year, I had always intended to continue my art. It can be challenging to give ourselves the permission to create, without having some sort of title or certification. This unique opportunity motivated me to overcome whatever had been holding me back from creating artwork for nearly 18 years.
The constant flow of public and commercial traffic coming through the facility, sounds from industrial machinery, and just the newness of it all gave an exhilarating sense of doing a sculptural version of battlefield surgery. I felt steeped in metaphor: life, waste, renewal, reinvention, transformation, potential. In 4 days the pieces went from pre-conception to execution.
I am left inspired to continue pursuing this path, and deeply grateful for the opportunity.
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