Reclaimed | 2020

Artist Statement

Have you considered where the disposable cups go when you throw away or even recycle? Do you know how long it takes for Styrofoam to degrade?

My mother’s side of the family is from the Bay of Biloxi, MS- where my grandmother still resides- so a love of marine life was in my blood as well as in my childhood dream of being a marine biologist documenting animals across the Gulf of Mexico. I chose to use marine imagery in my pieces because I’ve seen firsthand where Styrofoam and garbage usually end up.

Styrofoam cups have been a recurring item my father and grandfather have always reused. My grandfather’s family were farmers in Crystal Springs, MS during the great depression, so his mother taught him to reuse everything possible. He had multiple stacks of small gas station Styrofoam cups with coffee stains on them until we could sneak them out of the house.

The reusing instinct was instilled in my father, and anytime he would get to-go food he would take his cups home, wash them, and stack them in our cabinets with the other cups in the pantry. Slowly we began to “accidentally” punch holes and throw away and got him a reusable stainless-steel cup with a straw and handle, which he still uses to this day.

My goal in integrating cups and life growing around them is to show how once disposable materials are brought into ecosystems, animals will always adapt to survive and reclaim their habitat.