For All the Things I Carry Around II, detail 1. Print

Detail 1, from: For All the Things I Carry Around II This impetus behind this series of sculptures comes from a discomfort with the material and emotional weight of stuff I have accumulated throughout my life. I started to sort through the things which surround me, asking myself why I kept certain things, or why I didn't feel able to let go of other things, and I examined my deep sense of responsibility and awareness of the environmental impact our Western way of living has on ourselves, others and the natural environment on which we depend. Throwing things away was a painful admission of failure: the failure of my imagination to create a better future, the failure to see another way forward, and a surrender to an inevitable, unacceptable scenario of landfill and/or incineration... From this thought process came the concept of creating bags to contain the things I did not feel able to throw away: For All the Things I Carry Around, as a way of containing, defusing and processing all those material and emotional things which I couldn't quite shake off... This sculpture is a bag made from an item of partly worn-out clothing which I did not feel able to throw away, (in this case a pair of shorts). The shorts still had a lot of useable, high quality fabric including 4 great pockets (I love pockets!!!), so, rather than throw the shorts away, I wanted to see if I could up-cycle them, re-create them, give them another life... Simultaneously, I was thinking about my own up-bringing in various contexts, and specifically in the context of being able to say No, as a child. For various reasons, the ability to say No was not always available to me as a child, and this 'disability' has followed me into adulthood, oftentimes with negative consequences. The ability to say No is so important, and it occurred to me that if I did not feel able to actually speak the word No, maybe I could write the word No, and have it as a portable written word for whenever I might need it! In the making of this piece, I was surprised to find that I remembered various times when I was not able, or felt unable to say No, so the creation of this sculpture began to feel cathartic, like an emotional re-balancing. By re-using materials which would otherwise be discarded (the threads used were also reclaimed), this piece is as much about saying No to the waste we create; it's a way of up-cycling both the emotional impetus which led to the sculpture's creation as well as the actual materials used.

Print:Giclee on Canvas

Size:16 W x 12 H x 1.25 D in

Size with Frame:17.75 W x 13.75 H x 1.25 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.