Plastic in the Trees 1 et 2

surplus yarn with used plastic bags

Plastic in the Oceans

surplus yarn with used plastic bags 

Julie Kornblum

via

My work is a combination of the immediate and the ancient. I like to take a new look at old traditions by applying post-modern materials to the ancient processes of basketry and weaving. As a weaver and basket maker, I feel part of a continuation of a thousand generations of artists and weavers from around the world. As a person in the 21st century, I am concerned with what we throw away. In the past hundred years plastics have facilitated marvelous advancements in medicine, food storage, communications, etc; and have become a worldwide waste and disposal problem. I hope my work will raise awareness of how our plastic trash impacts the environment. My materials are cast off, surplus, or waste: copper wire from the recycle yard; audio cassette tapes that even the thrift store wanted to throw away. Yarns and materials of unknown purpose somehow find their way to my studio, and I collect plastic bags and bits of packaging that are trashed after being used once. These materials could not have existed either physically or conceptually until the modern age. Physically, they are by products of industrialization. Conceptually, the notions of disposability, one-time-use, surplus, and waste are also modern inventions.