Fabric Landscapes
How long until landfills become land-full?
Mountains of clothing.
Americans sent 11.3 million TONS of textile waste to landfills in 2018! This number grows every year.
Time-lapse process video: shaping mountains from my own clothing waste.
Make or Remake?
As artists, there is nothing more thrilling than executing a new idea. Sometimes getting to that point is a struggle. We try new media and processes until we find our favorite way, then on to the next project and repeat.
Along this journey, we can find ourselves in piles of rejected artworks and mounds of unnecessary supplies.
Personally, I make it a point to use as many secondhand materials as possible in my art. For example, cardboard is one of my favorite recycled media. My love for the peaks and valleys in the corrugation inspired my artist name, "Ridge and Groove Art”. But because of the surplus of worn out clothing around me, I am gravitating towards that as a medium while still maintaining my mountainous theme.
Since giving birth twice in the last five years, I have created more clothing waste than normal. The fluctuating sizes and wear and tear of motherhood have greatly increased my personal clothing consumption. This has sparked an interest in clothing waste statistics and also a curiosity in how I can do my part to minimize my contribution to the landfills.
This series of fabric landscapes is my way of scratching my creative itch while also bringing awareness to this growing environmental textile waste problem. Instead of making art from new or unsustainable materials, I will remake what is around me into something beautiful.
Almost done… follow my instagram and facebook accounts to see more progress videos and finished products.
