My artwork in the NEXT exhibition focuses on the cardboard box as a basic utilitarian object and represents a new direction in my work. My challenge included how to transform this industrial prefabricated object into art. The production of the sculptures involved mostly tearing with my hands, as opposed to using scissors or knives. I also refrained from using tape or adhesives as much as possible.
I was drawn to the contrasting surfaces of these unadorned boxes that consisted of mostly smooth liner board contrasted with fluted, corrugated layers. By pulling, tearing, peeling and folding, I crafted these objects into what I call "naked sculptures."
The wall hung installations, however (pictured in the corner) incorporate color that was originally printed on the box surface in playful constructions.
A single box was used in each sculpture, be it a wardrobe, shoe, printer or flower box. Using mainly recycled boxes that were a part of my consumption over a period of time, the installation forms a type of snapshot of my consumer habits and speaks to issues of mass consumption and waste in modern society. My current art practice interestingly, lies in direct opposition to my former freelance career as a package designer for companies such as Mattel Toys, Disney, Barnum and Bailey Circus, in which the design of excessive packaging for the purposes of marketing and sales was the rule.
