Becoming Bird
My current work addresses the “waste” generated by Western cultures of abundance. Waste can be defined as “matter out of place.” How does timber, once part of a living tree, then part of a manufactured piece of furniture, suddenly lose all value and become waste? I salvaged timber furniture from the tip to fabricate Becoming Bird; from a rubbish pile of broken parts emerges the form of a nest and bird. This work juxtaposes manufactured goods with the hidden cost of deforestation. There is a perceptual disconnect between our desire for more, a voracious need for natural resources, an uncritical stance toward waste, and collateral damage to wildlife and ecosystems. Becoming Bird attempts to bring these connections into view.