Artist Statement

Artist Statement

Fragment speaks to the fact that plastic does not decompose. Instead, it breaks down into smaller pieces that accumulate in the environment. Therefore, Fragments uses recovered plastic objects and soil samples from a local fly-tipping site in Sutton to illustrate this fact.

Despite the erection of several warnings, notices, and CCTV cameras, this site on Albert Road in Sutton has experienced regular fly-tipping for years. The conflict between man and nature is evident on this stretch of road. Yearly, nature reclaims the land during the Spring and Summer months, with poppies and other wildflowers. But during the Autumn and Winter months, evidence of fly-tipping is laid bare for all to see as the foliage withers and dries out.

I created all these photographs using a scanner, which made a detailed copy of the composition as its prosthetic eye moved along its path (a fragment at a time), keeping with the overarching theme of this work.

I present some objects as single works or grids to emphasise the variety of waste recovered from this site. Using a black background, I want to remind everyone that plastic does not just float around in oceans but also in the depths of the earth, underneath the landscape. I also composed a narrative with some objects to show how they exist in our environment and move through soil layers.

Rubbish is something we often look away from and of little use to us. But it is time that we take a serious look at it.