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Rebecca Cox:

BE/LONGING
 
Rebecca Cox
Environmental Science major, Studio Art minor
 

In my recent work, I explore how artmaking relates to the environment: how do the materials and methods I use become a part of a piece's meaning? How does a piece linger or break down over time? How can art be an effective commentary on environmental issues? Greatly influenced by my time conducting environmental research at sea, where I witnessed the inflitration of artificial materials into the natural environment, I consider the unseen environmental footprint of my own artistic practice and am motivated by plastic trash found in my own local environment.

 
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Plastic Bag
marble
2022
Jewett Hallway Galleries
 
white marble sculpture of a plastic bag
 
 
In using a traditional method of art-making-- marble carving-- to recreate a relatively modern commodity-- the plastic bag-- I explore questions of permanence and disposability. The slow, intensely physical, and occasionally painful process of stone carving is put in conversation with an everyday item that is not deeply considered. Marble sculptures have lasted for millenia; how long does a plastic bag itself last? I invite the viewer to consider the lifespan and future impacts of the human marks we are making on the world, whether through our artwork or through our quotidian consumption.
 
side view of a white marble sculpture of a plastic bag   top view of a white marble sculpture of a plastic bag
 
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Sea Two One
screenprint and linocut on paper
2022
Jewett Hallway Galleries

 

a hand printed book standing up on a table with several pages visible. It has blue ink images of detritus and orange text describing the trash that mimics a child's counting book. The covers are made of bubble wrap.

 
 
Inspired by both my time at sea and my years working at an independent bookstore, I provide in a children's book format a snapshot of our ocean of the future. Through simple writing and imagery, I aim to make the issue of ocean pollution apparent and accessible to all as the reader comes to their own realization about the message of the book. Featuring only pollution that I actually witnessed at sea, as well as repurposed waste that was found on campus, I hope that the physical exploration of the book gives the viewer insight into our reality, as well as the shock I felt seeing this waste out at sea, a thousand miles from land.
 
Installation of three small handmade books on a small table. The leftmost has a cover made of a yellow M&Ms wrapper. The center is open on a stand showing pages that read 'SIX plastic crates' and 'FIVE plastic bottles'. The rightmost has a cover made from a cardboard Amazon box
 
gloved hands holding open a hand-made book. The left page is a cover made of bubble wrap. The right page has a blue squiggly line across the top and reads 'SEA TWO ONE: number fun for future sailors' in orange below the line
 
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untitled (related works)
screenprint and linocut on paper
2022
Jewett Hallway Galleries
 
 
single bluish LOST poster on a grayish wall with a line drawing of a plastic bag
 
white plastic bag tacked to the wall that has been printed with pink text reading 'DO YOU FEEL IT IN YOUR BONES?'
 
close-up on pink text printed on a plastic bag that reads 'DO YOU FEEL IT IN YOUR BONES?'
 
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