Installation view from Meltdown: A Changing Climate
ArtsWestchester
Inspired by the lush vegetation surrounding my rainforest property, Polyurethane Paradise: Rainforest Rhapsody is built from close observation of what grows around me each day. I wove single-use plastic bottle caps into vines and floral forms, using color, repetition, and pattern to mirror the plants that hold my attention—orchids, heliconias, birds of paradise, and the dense, winding vines that thread through the landscape.
Working with discarded materials allowed me to translate the vibrancy of this environment while acknowledging the presence of plastic within it. The bottle caps become leaves, petals, and stems—familiar shapes rendered in synthetic form. The piece is less a replica of the rainforest than a response to it, shaped by daily proximity, care, and attention.
Installed within Meltdown, the work sat quietly in conversation with the exhibition’s broader themes, offering a moment rooted in observation and material transformation. The installation images document a process of looking closely, collecting slowly, and weaving what is already here into something new.
Meltdown: A Changing Climate has now closed at ArtsWestchester.
Installation photos: Maksim Akelin
