The Maw, 2024Aluminum cans and LED lights on wood panel.
Neutron, 2024Aluminum cans, LED lights, on wood panel
2124 CE, 2024Aluminum, copper, gold, plastic, rubber, steel, circuit board on wood panel.
Nucleus, 2024Aluminum cans on wood panel
Mass, 2024Aluminum cans on wood panel
Fused, 2024Aluminum cans on wood panel
Impact, 2024Aluminum and glass on wood panel
Ascent, 2022According to the EPA, one-third of all trash consists of paper containers and packaging, and 29 million tons of corrugated cardboard is generated annually. That is the equivalent of 493 million trees, or 1.5 trees per person, or 700 pounds per year. How much of this waste is fully recognized and seen by you, the consumer?
Nexus, 202215,000 beverage tabs equate to 4.2 seconds of consumption in the US. Every consumptive action is a linked event. Vast amounts of energy and resources are required to fulfill the consumer's needs and wants, and rarely are our actions as consumers reflected on. We discard the metal vessel once we pop that single-use beverage top and drink its contents. However, this activity builds upon itself, adding more and more mass to our collective waste.
Strata, 2022Objects have their own history and tell us a lot, not only of ourselves but also our society and culture. With our landfills being a treasure trove of information, what would future archaeologists be able to determine from our civilization today? It is not my intention to provide a direct answer; however, it is my intention for my audience to consider these questions. We produce so much waste because most of it is designed to be obsolete after a single-use. Nevertheless, these objects are made of enduring materials. Our trash will still be in existence thousands of years from now, contained in immense time capsules buried in the earth. Out of our collective landfill mass, 3.42% is rubber, 5.17% is glass, 7.73% is textiles, 9.53% is metals, 11.78% is paper, and 18.46% is plastic.
Fractionary Mass, 202212,000 condensed aluminum cans equate to 3.4 seconds of consumption in the US. The average American drinks about 45 gallons of soda every year. That is 375 pounds of soda that pass through your system in 365 days. 45 gallons of soda totals roughly 470 cans in one calendar year. 470 cans equal exactly 3 condensed aluminum cubes. Americans are consuming 106,000 aluminum cans every 30 seconds at this current rate. Last year, approximately 36 billion aluminum cans were tossed into landfills. It is estimated that we have wasted more than 11 million tons of aluminum beverage cans worth over $12 billion over the past twenty years on today's market.
Fissure, 2022Currently the world is experiencing a shortage of aluminum, and aluminum consumption is increasing at a steady rate daily. Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can's volume of gasoline. Even though aluminum is a highly recyclable material, more virgin ore in the form of bauxite is strip-mined every day to meet our consumptive demands. Making aluminum cans from recycled aluminum takes 95% less energy than making cans from virgin ore.
Negligible, 2022The United States produces the most plastic waste per capita worldwide, with the average American producing 286.7 pounds of plastic waste per year. This means we generated more than 42 million metric tons of plastic waste last year, making us by far the world's biggest plastic waste generator. 40% of this waste is single-use, and 16% is incinerated for energy recovery, but out of our collective plastic waste, only 8.7% is recycled.
Dissonance, 2020Forty-five pounds of clear plastic produce packaging totaling a year’s worth of personal consumption, plastic milk jugs, black plastic, and four small boulders.
Forty-five pounds of clear plastic produce packaging totaling a year’s worth of personal consumption, plastic milk jugs, black plastic, and four small boulders.
Dissonance (detail)Forty-five pounds of clear plastic produce packaging totaling a year’s worth of personal consumption, plastic milk jugs, black plastic, and four small boulders.
Forty-five pounds of clear plastic produce packaging totaling a year’s worth of personal consumption, plastic milk jugs, black plastic, and four small boulders.
Origins, 2020Two-hundred and fifty deconstructed plastic horticultural pots and a poisonous Dieffenbachia Amoena (Dumb cane) plant.
Origins (detail)There is currently no national infrastructure for processing our plastic waste. And when it comes to black plastic horticultural pots, there’s an added dimension. Since they’re dyed with carbon inks that can’t easily be broken down, black plastic pots are non-recyclable. That makes them a single-use plastic, which takes around 450 years to break down. The sad truth is that 95-98 percent of plastic horticultural pots end up in the landfill.
Tethered SeriesEach bird is constructed from aluminum cans and is chained to a artificial habitat contrived of cinder blocks. Since the 1970’s native North American bird species have diminished by 30%, which equates to 3 billion dead birds. Do to the loss of habitat, pollution, and land development our backyard birds species are struggling to survive. With in this sculptural installation you will find birds in different stages of life. Some are alive, some are dead and decomposing, and a few only have their skeletal remains left behind.
Tethered Series: Black-Backed Wood Pecker 2020Made from hand cut aluminum cans
Tethered Series: Western Tanager 2020Made from hand cut aluminum cans.
Tethered Series: Steller's Jay Made from hand cut aluminum cans.
Resting Place 2019A flower field depicting the final resting place of a discarded coke can. Made from aluminum cans.
Resting PlaceDetail image of Resting Place, 2019.
Litter Bug 2020The final resting place of a littered aluminum can. Made entirely from aluminum cans with a condensed aluminum foil frame.
Detail image of Litter Bug, 2020.
Illuminated, 2019A night time landscape composition with fireflies. Made from aluminum cans.
Lady Rose, 2019A depiction of Mount Rose located in Reno Nevada. made from aluminum cans.
Anthropocene Study #2, 2020A life size human skull made from plastic waste and polyvinyl chloride.
Anthropocene Study #1, 2020A life size human skull made from convenience store plastic bags, aluminum foil, and polyvinyl chloride.
Decomposed
Decomposed
Consumed
Human 2018