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Shortly after graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1990,
I discovered how to weave with plastic bags.

One needs to weave with linear, flexible materials. Plastic bags being bountiful, many of them stuck between the refrigerator and the sink in my kitchen, allowed me to experiment first with weft weaving (the horizontal interlocking of material). The process involved cutting the bags into strips and overlapping their ends to produce a long and continuous length resulting in a fine finished fabric.

I then experimented with using the strips as the warp (the vertical material strung on the loom), tying them together by hand to create continuous length. The only other adjustment needed was to alter the reed and heddles (loom parts) to accommodate the size of a knot. It worked, and I haven't stopped weaving with plastic bags since!

When woven, the seemingly cheap and wasteful bags are transformed into a durable, tactile and sensual fabric. The plastic bag strips bags can be used with all weaving techniques and fiber construction methods, including knitting, braiding, knotting and rope making. The size of the "thread" depends on the density of the plastic and the width that I cut it to. I now use an industrial heat sealer to join the ends together. I work with the inherent color of the bags in design concepts and have experimented with surface treatments that remove and/or add color. Experience has taught me, not many traditional color treatments work on the plastic.

Weaving is a multi-step process central to the expression of my art. Cutting the bags into strips and seaming them into lengths is similar to the process of hand spinning yarn. Collection of raw material to produce my art could be likened to those who raise and shear sheep or harvest flax or cotton plants. My collection process includes gleaning bags from the street, fences and recycling containers at the local Jewel or Copps grocery stores. I have visited a plastic bag recycling operation in Chicago. Friends and family have enthusiastically saved post-consumer bags for me. I think about all the different places around the world the bags could be gleaned from!

My body of work emphasizes both a functional reuse and a critical
expression of the overabundance of plastic bags in our consumer oriented society. Additional relevant information about plastic bag consumption and waste around the world can be found by going to the Website, reusablebags.com.

CONSUMER SKIN

2007
post-consumer plastic shopping bags, post-consumer plastic packaging material, wax-crayon, thread
152 c. x 61 c.

ECOLOGY: FOR THE MASSES

2006
woven post-consumer plastic shopping bags
63 c. x 91 c.

CONSUMER ALLEGIANCE

2005
woven post-consumer plastic shopping bags
63 c. x 117 c.

FILL THE CART AND WATCH IT GROW

2004
woven post-consumer plastic shopping bags
122 c. x 84 c.

WANTIMATIKA FLOORING

2005
woven post-consumer and recycled plastic newspaper sleeves
305 c. Diameter

WANTIMATIKA

2003-2005
woven post-consumer plastic shopping bags, wood
427 c. x 305 c. x 305 c.

POLYETHYLENE PLAY GROUND

2003
post-consumer plastic shopping bags, post-consumer plastic construction fencing
213 c. x 106 c.

SHOPPED DOWN

2001-2003
post-consumer plastic shopping bags, post-consumer shopping cart
109 c. x 116 c, x 74 c.