EPISODE ONE

"James' beard"

Materials: mixed beach plastics on wood

"Melting Pot"

Materials: mixed beach plastics on hardboard

Julie Darrough

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
A curiousity about my beach-combing finds has led me to creating collages from the plastic shards. Along the way I have become aware of the concern about land and sea plastic pollution problems. Although I am not invested in organized political activism in this regard, I hope my art will call attention to this issue. I had my first show of this work in April 2007 at the SunRose Gallery on Broadway in Seaside, Oregon!

POST-PROJECT STATEMENT:

When I joined this project it was for less than noble reasons. My recently resurrected art career has led me from watercolors to acrylics to collages made from plastics, picked up from my Arch Cape beach.

In an effort to become more creative and abstract, I ended up learning about environmental concerns. My art consists of the end of the line for plastic products. In an effort to promote my art, I’m happy to call attention to the fact that plastics don’t break down. In fact, “they go down to the sea in chips”!

"Poly: an inner self portait in Plastic" "Bones" - high density polyethylene (HDPE); "Skin" - low density polyethylene (LDPE)

Vicky DeKrey Vasey

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
My biggest challenge is definitely buying not much plastic. Having an elementary school-age child and a husband who consumes more than his share of junk food make it very difficult. For myself I have to say, How do you find dairy products that aren’t packaged in plastic? Cheese, yogurt, sour cream?

My art work is generally mixed media collage. I’ve been doing stitched, collaged fabric pieces for years and have recently started doing more paper collage with drawing, painting, embroidery, etc. A lot of the materials I use are recycled and I am making more of an effort to consciously reuse fabrics and papers.

POST PROJECT STATEMENT:
It takes nine months to build a baby, about 18 years to build a full size adult but only 3 months of plastic consumption to build a plastic person. And I was actively trying not to purchase it or there would have been more.

"Broccoli Series"

Material: polyethylene terephthalate

"P-Couture"

Material: low density polyethylene

Grace Espiritu

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
Changing my purchasing habits will definitely be quite a challenge.Being a first time mother with a 17-month- old, I must admit convenience in plastic has made my life easier. Just like everything else it seems like a majority of baby supplies are sold in plastic packaging from food to diapers to toys. Everyday I acquire all this plastic, justifying it with “I can recycle as much as I can.” With the LNPB project, we’ll see if that justification is valid.

POST PROJECT STATEMENT:
Well there goes that justification. Before this project I didn’t know much about the effects of plastic recycling other than it’s “good”. Keeps plastic from the landfills, making it available for other purposes, etc. I learned that the process of recycling plastics has detrimental effects on the environment as well. Plastic is forever and recycling is not a cure-all.

"Cellophane"

Materials: cellophane, wood panel, staples

Adriana Grant

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
Much as I try to avoid it, plastic has been coming to me in the mail, hidden inside frozen food boxes, and as the packaging for things I can’t seem to avoid purchasing (and some of them feel like indulgences: candy, beauty supplies, frozen raspberries, frozen peas). Much as I would like to do all my shopping in bulk, or at farmers’ markets, it just hasn’t happened. And then I go out for Chinese, and come home with styrofoam boxes. Too much.
I have been frustrated with the art-making process, because, frankly, this stuff is not pretty. My work is all about the materials, and this material, with its branding and garish lettering, is not what I want to spend time with.
I did find myself drawn to clear plastic: its shine, and the the way it seems to possess a grain, like wood. So I am bending the rules a bit, and my piece is composed not of all the bags and prescription bottles and styrofoam containers I ended up with, but of a roll of plastic wrap, stretched and stapled and layered over a wood panel. It’s trying to look like it might fit in the room with another of my pieces, and we’ll see if it works out that way.

POST PROJECT STATEMENT:
I am happy to report that after two failed attempts at other projects, my final piece is a bit of conservation that I would be happy to hang on my wall. I have covered a one-foot-square wood panel with the roll of cellophane that has been under my kitchen sink for the last few years. I hardly use the stuff, and, after engaging in LNPB, was even more reluctant to. Instead of using this plastic wrap for its intended use, I took it out of the garbage stream by making a more permanent object from it. The shine is lovely, and the plastic does create a fascinating texture, layer upon layer of it.

"Anything but the Trashcan" - a few weeks before the opening.

Cheryl Lohrmann

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
Leave No Plastic Behind started because of a failed attempt to write a narrative screenplay that would educate a broad audience about the problems created by plastic. After several months of writing and rewriting, an art exhibition involving a community of conscientious individuals seemed a much better application at this point in time.

Similarly my artistic approach often starts with one idea that gets buried beneath others, giving my work a layered and textured appearance. These various mutations are different expressions of that first idea. With plastic being a medium I haven’t worked with extensively, my project will most likely have an experimental appearance, with several techniques at work in a single piece.

POST PROJECT STATEMENT:
I have since become very skilled at avoiding plastic like the plague. By not sending it away for cremation and/or burial, it affects my home environment immediately and visibly. Personal benefits: fewer impulse purchases, healthier eating habits, buying more second hand items, and saving money.

As suspected the stream-of-consciousness method prevailed in both “Anything but the Trash Can” and “Oceanscape with Clamshell”. Having not thrown away any plastic for at least six months, I was feeling a need to purge my overflowing collection box. I succeeded in this endeavor and, especially wth “Anything” experimented with the different forms that plastic takes. My most prideful moment was discovering a way to adhere the miniature sculptures to the fabric without glue, but rather by first poking softer plastic from the back through holes in the fabric and then once (or twice) again through holes in other plastic objects, usually lids and caps.

Concepts for other pieces emerged from this one, but my inclination is to expand upon “Anything” by covering it in a coat of white paint and going from there. Look for this work-in-progress in Episode II of Leave No Plastic Behind later this year!

"Tiny City Made of Plastic"

Materials Used: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), pressboard shelf, glue, paint

Jessica Lyness

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
Initially, I was a little timid about signing on to be a member of the Leave No Plastic Behind (LNPB) project. Since I don’t have an artistic background, I found the LNPB premise, “save plastic for three months and make art out of it!” intimidating. I had no idea where this would take me but I was excited to tap into my artistic ability and help to eliminate the plastic waste stream. It didn’t hurt that plastic was everywhere as a constant reminder and that, increasingly, I was hearing, seeing, and reading about the damage it was doing to the environment.

POST PROJECT STATEMENT:
Plastic is convenient, omnipotent, and even when I was not using it, other people were handing it to me. I found myself in situations that were extra challenging like when I was on an airplane, visiting family in southern states like Alabama and Oklahoma, extremely hungry, or in a real hurry. Here I was trying not to use plastic and the plastic pile I did have was out of control. When I would get a coffee and forget to ask for no lid, go out for lunch and not have a fork with me, I would curse myself and envision the pile getting larger. I changed my mind five times on what I would create. In the end I felt that “Tiny City Made of Plastic” represented how our world feels to me now and how it may become someday if there is not a change in the system.
I would like to sputter out a “whew”, wipe my forehead and thank no one in particular that this endeavor is over. But I feel I can never go back. Now that I have lived on a “plastic-free diet” for three months of my life, I find it difficult to resort back to the past world of coffee lids, plastic bags, bottled water, etc. Whereas I would have never thought about trashing these things in the past, now I have rather warmed up to my “plastic drawer” in my kitchen. I instinctively wash, dry, and tuck away each plastic item in that drawer. The pile reminds me of my own contribution to the waste stream and that I can control my own ecological footprint. I am grateful for the opportunity, looking forward to the next LNPB project, further involvement from the business community, and hopefully one day alternative packaging.

Kjerstin Rossi

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
I am a video, film, and art maker newly-living in Portland. I have faith in the power of art and poetry to give us strength to fight for what is good, beautiful and kind in an uncertain world. I was drawn to this project because I am constantly looking for ways that I can do what I love while engaging in my communities. I also love exploring new media and work with materials that range from sequins to drill bits to latex. I am a member of the Feminist and Queer Friendly Video Collective and the Queer Art Collective, two Portland-based arts organizations.

POST PROJECT STATEMENT:
Attempting to give up plastic was difficult but I did not feel deprived. It necessitated lifestyle changes that made my life more enjoyable. It felt good to drink my coffee at home and go to the farmers market and grocery store with a basket. That said, I accumulated many bags and lids the times when I was rushed and unprepared.

However, I know it is possible to create a life where I won’t be trapped in a wasteful cycle of ‘productivity’. This project reinforced my desire to do less but with more purpose in all areas of my life.

"Disposable Culture"

Materials: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS)

Lena Rudnick

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
Behavioral change has never been easy—motivating myself to create new habits and keep them is grueling! I don’t think I am alone in this. So, given that introduction, I am really excited to give the Leave No Plastic Behind project a shot. If I can get out of my liberal armchair, we all can. Good luck to me and the other LNPB-ers.

POST-PROJECT STATEMENT:
There were two challenging aspects about the last three months. 1) Remembering to live consciously. After going for take-out and being handed a plastic bag filled with plastic containers, I would smack my forehead. 2) Talking to people about the project. I got a lot of “You know what the real problem is...(fill in the blank, everything from corrugated metal to honey bees to dishwashing)” It occurred to me that these are excuses we use to not have to change our behavior. I think it is the responsibility of all artists to challenge themselves in such a way. How can I consciously observe and comment on the world if I am not consciously living myself? The project has heightened my own perceptions and forced me to slow down just that little bit that makes all the difference in a healthier way of life. I just wish I didn’t have to recoil every time I see individually wrapped toothpicks.

ABOUT “DISPOSABLE CULTURE” Historically, artists have fixated on the materials used in their artwork. In eighth century Byzantium, using paints created out of natural materials like plants, rocks, and insects was a way for god to be glorified through the very body of the artwork.Aboriginal artists in Australia would trek for two months at a time to find sacred red ochre. What does it mean to use trash to create this project? Would ancient artists be appalled? Who would fathom today of walking that long simply to procure something for their art? Single-use plastic is a modern day cultural phenomenon. When we are finished with our bottle of water we throw it away—not thinking about the fact that it will make a more lasting impression on the Earth than we will. When the newspapers stop reporting on war in Darfur we forget that it continues—we move on to problems in Sudan without looking back. We consume and dispose of everything like a yogurt cup-with momentary hesitation we toss it away in order to consume more.

"The Raggedy Ann's and Andy's of the Future"

Materials: Plastic bags, flexible plastic packaging off all sorts, embroidery thread, hard plastic containers, utensils, bottle caps, tea wrappers, spouts, straws and many other random plastic thingies.

Julie VanSant

PRE-PROJECT STATEMENT:
I value reusing materials as well as functionality in my pieces. I often ask myself how can we break out of the ways we have been socialized and how can I do that with my art.

I’m searching to understand this world and all the crazy things we, as a species, have done and are doing. Sometimes I want to make representational art, sometimes political, other times I just want to make goofy costumes and postcards.

I’m aesthetically drawn to and like beautiful things, so I am often very meticulous and detail-oriented when I work on a piece—in order to make it perfect. I think the most challenging part of this project will be for me to be satisfied with my work. I can foresee that the aesthetics of my pieces will be limited by the materials. Therefore, I fear that few of my pieces will be attractive or even look finished.