glam.glom.gloom.
Solo ExhibitionUpper Iowa University
glam.glom.gloom. represents a mixture of three technical and conceptual approaches to transforming recycled plastic. Some of the work in this show showcased the “glam” of a sleek, smooth, glossy plastic aesthetic that consumers are familiar with. Other pieces flip the viewer’s expectations by presenting crunchy, waxy, and gritty surfaces, conglomerations of plastic, dust, and resin that look almost alien and otherworldly. The gloomy color compositions contrast with forms resembling natural elements like trees, coral, and blossoms, completing the trifecta of glam.glom.gloom.
With only nine percent of plastic being recycled annually, the remainder is either burned, dumped in landfills, or left in the environment to disintegrate into microplastics, working its way up the food chain to humans. The concepts of glam, glom, and gloom work together in this show to center the conversation about the portentous lives of single use plastic objects and the precarious state of the plastic crisis.
