departure, reclamation

(the space left behind series)
paper sculpture from recycled office supplies, construction signage, found origami flowers, and paper thread
5.5″ x 28″ x 4.5″
2016

This amulet is one of a sub-series of four small sculptures that are meant to trace the arc of displacement–from being forced out to finding a new home, and the overarching desire to protect communities in precarious positions in the city.

The space left behind is a series of sculptures created as an artist-in-residence at Recology SF. All materials, both sculptural and research, were culled from the public disposal area of the facility. I used recycled papers–including office supplies, real estate and construction signage, foreclosure counseling documents, and tech start-up brochures–to reinterpret found objects which speak to the complexities of life and survival in the city at a moment of accelerated displacement and change to the city’s cultural identity. As a whole, the works in this project explore issues of access, affordability, and public space as they can be drawn out from what has been left behind; using discarded papers in a process of reclamation, mirroring the formal and informal tactics being used to carve out space in the city.

Exhibition history:
the space left behind, Recology SF (2016)