WASPS

Found materials from the dump, copper, wood, mod podge, coper tubing, bicycle tire, aluminum, copper wire, glass, whip-it metal canisters, springs, door knobs, furniture brass tacks, negatives, marble, steel, card board

2025

I was awarded a GLEAN Artists-in-Residence that included, an exhibition, stipend, and 5 months of access to the Metro Transfer Station in Portland, Oregon. 95 - 100% of materials used needed to be gleaned from the dump.

For the past year and half I have been learning about solitary wasps. I am collaborating with wasp whisperer Kate Taormina on a new artist book exploring the wonders of these fascinating creatures.

Since November I have spent many hours at the dump for my GLEAN artist residency and many more hours cleaning, dismantling, sorting and contemplating the  different materials I gleaned. I felt joy from new discovery–luck for being there in that exact moment to save that delicate object before it was smashed to smithereens by the bulldozer, and despair from the enormity of how much waste we humans create on a daily basis.  Something would catch my eye–without knowing why or how I was going to use that material I put it on my cart and brought it home. It took me a while to find my direction because I was overwhelmed with possibility. Slowly, I started seeing wasp abdomens and the coiled copper intrigued me. I began experimenting with patinas and mod podge. It was a big challenge to figure out how to connect these different materials.

Each visit to the Metro Transfer Station provided new opportunity. I couldn’t help but feel it was meant to be… for me to find hundreds of whip-it canisters. This unique experience opened up a whole new creative adventure where my imagination combined with textures and surfaces allowed me to create in brand new ways.