Plastic Presence

I have always collected discarded objects as an integral part of my creative process. Around four years ago, the wire ties I had been collecting for a decade were being replaced by plastic zip ties, a material that I despise. Could I develop a resonance with plastic? This simple question became my lodestar and it led me deep into our plastic crisis that ultimately resulted in a major shift in my work: away from dance toward a material practice.

I’ve been developing a body of ephemeral sculptures composed of rainwater, ice, and single-use plastic. The elements change and rearrange themselves with the fleeting and unpredictable nature of performance. The ice cracks and melts into pools of water that collide and ripple. The water tips, turns, or drops the plastic—bread ties, zip ties, forks, packing straps, and straws—in unpredictable rhythms. Over time, each work transforms from a solid to a liquid, from a well organized structure to a muddled mess.