Artist Statement
In Asian culture, it’s stressed to not waste anything, so I often find myself digging in the trash in search of art materials. This inspired me to repurpose plastic bags for my art. My process involves the deconstruction of plastic bags into a plastic yarn, also known as “plarn.” I then crochet the plarn into a singular rope, which is turned into sculptural pieces where I explore organic forms and play with the unique qualities of plastic. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with different techniques to manipulate the plastic such as using heat/fire, crocheting, and knitting.
I derive the meaning of my pieces from the material itself. I’ve been working with single-use plastic grocery bags for the past year focusing on the duality of “disposable permanence”. Single-use plastics are designed to be used once in their lives and then thrown away, but plastic is a material that will remain on Earth for an unknown amount of time. The chaotic nature of my pieces represents the critical mass of plastic on our Earth and the urgency of the issue that plastic pollution brings forward. My sculptures are made up of thin crocheted plastic ropes, which can be difficult to see unless layered. By layering the plastic, I do not only hope to create new textures but to utilize the thinness of the plastic rope in order to bring further attention to the overlooked problems that come along with it.
I derive the meaning of my pieces from the material itself. I’ve been working with single-use plastic grocery bags for the past year focusing on the duality of “disposable permanence”. Single-use plastics are designed to be used once in their lives and then thrown away, but plastic is a material that will remain on Earth for an unknown amount of time. The chaotic nature of my pieces represents the critical mass of plastic on our Earth and the urgency of the issue that plastic pollution brings forward. My sculptures are made up of thin crocheted plastic ropes, which can be difficult to see unless layered. By layering the plastic, I do not only hope to create new textures but to utilize the thinness of the plastic rope in order to bring further attention to the overlooked problems that come along with it.