MEET THE ARTISTS of the National Plastic Quilt Project
August—October 2009

Leave No Plastic Behind, Portland’s 6th “Episode” (also known as an art exhibit), marks a collective eighteen months during which artist/participants lived creatively and plastic-free. The Quilt Project is a representation of artists, families and individuals aware of the depth to which plastic affects our shared earth. You may be a part of lucky episode number 7, which begins in March 2010. Sign up for our email list to keep apprised of the details.

The Quilt thus far will be on display various locations throughout Portland during November and December 2009 beginning at the Junk to Funk Fashion show on November 14th. Full chedule to be posted soon. Have a space? Book the quilt!

Bridget Benton — Portland, OR — second episode!
PRE: For the past year I have been collecting plastic bottle caps for use in my art. I've become intrigued by patterns of consumption, and have begun paying attention more and more to what I use and the waste that's left over, especially items that can't be curbside recycled. I already have a number of plastic lids, caps, cartons, straws, and bags that I've been saving, and I've decided to take on the LNPB challenge as a way of becoming even more conscious of my consumption, and reducing it. The biggest challenge? My love of to-go fountain soda over ice and sipped through a straw.


"Voracious"
Fused Plastic, Stitched, with Grommets
$50 donation to LNPB

POST:I started working with Leave No Plastic Behind primarily because as an
artist, I was interested in what could happen with these "throwaway"
materials. I have always been an avid re-user and recycler, and see amazing
beauty and potential in these materials. I've become more aware of how my own appetite for convenience makes these materials a bit too easy to come by.

Holly & Bryce Bern — Oakland, CA — new!
PRE: My son and I were learning about the North Pacific Gyre this past spring. We have participated in beach clean-ups in Hawaii and are particularly concerned about the effects of plastic on marine organisms. The quilt seems like a great way to understand our own patterns of plastic use and bring awareness to others as well. The biggest challenge is simply that plastic is so pervasive; it's really hard to avoid. I think working with an idealistic eleven year old will be inspiring and memorable. Maybe we'll create something that speaks to our concern for ocean life.

Heather Bouley — Arlington, VA— new!
PRE: Art has been a part of my life since before preschool. Craft projects and finger paintings hung on the fridge for days (maybe years?) for all the world to see. However, I’ve never formally called myself an artist. It took a year in New Orleans, recycled goods, and a lifestyle of simplicity for me to realize the artist inside of myself. My niche? Recycled Art/Creative Reuse/Making Christmas presents for all my friends and family on a very small budget. And I’m in love with it. I love to create out of a pile of used and leftover materials and see what manifests. I love the balance between limitations and limitlessness. I love repurposing “trash” in to art. I love creating something beautiful that isn’t excessive and wasteful. I love that it makes me more intentional and aware about how my day to day habits affect the world. That is what I’m most looking forward to in the next three months; a new awareness of the pervasive plastics in my life. I don’t quite know how I can buy toilet paper (or much of anything for that matter) if it’s not wrapped in plastic, but I expect to get more creative in my life habits and stretch myself to attain plastic freedom.

"Blue Convenience"
Mixed Media
‘Not For Sale’

POST: Through this project I became aware that my desire for convenience often trumps my desire to change my consumer habits. But I've also learned where I can make plastic free purchases and how to better equip myself to avoid the convenient plastic trap. I loved the project. Thanks for making me think, LNPB.

Kelly Bryan — Portland, OR — second episode!


POST: For this episode, I focused on skimming plastic from my neighborhood ecosystem. People like to scare each other with tales of the Pacific’s “plastic island the size of Texas” (actually, it’s more of a soup and much bigger...), but as I work in my garden, I find the diabolic bits much closer to home: shards of bucket, flowerets of Styrofoam, labels from organic fruit. They come with the loads of nice compost I buy. Some are blown by the winds; some – cigarette wrappers, mostly – are relics from the previous gardener.

As I walk to the store or a friend’s house, as I wait to cross, I see plastic crumbs strewn by Hansels and Gretels wandering lost: bottle tops, straws, straps, hub caps. Chips, chunks, shreds, nubs. The way back seems hopelessly obscured; how will we find the way?

Amy Chovnick
+ the Green Teens of East Hills 4-H — San Leandro, CA — new team!
I am an ecology instructor at a community college, avid recycler/crafter and also a volunteer project leader for a 4H Environmental Stewardship project called Plastic Eliminators. Each semester I ask my college students to monitor their garbage for one week and keep their plastic separately for the very same reasons as LNPB- to really see the impact and trends of our throw away society. Of course, I practiced this activity myself before I created it as an assignment. I am intrigued to take this to a new level and actually make an art statement with that trash. I intend to offer the quilt project to my 4H members because they have done notable work educating the public on how to reduce their plastic consumption. They have made videos which won the national attention of the EPA, gave presentations to the city council to urge a ban on plastic bags, run education booths at our local farmers market to encourage the use of reusable bags and created skits which they performed at local schools to teach the importance of a waste free lunch. I think they can monitor their trash but how can they take the messages from their other media and consolidate them into powerful 12 x 12” squares that say it all? That will be the biggest challenge. Perhaps we will document this entire process on video too. I hope to create artwork that can be viewed in our community, country and world, just like the 4H pledge says.




Vicky DeKrey — Portland, OR — sixth episode!
POST: Given the amount of effort put into the graphics on packaging everything from breakfast cereal to pet products, one would think "they" could come up with a packaging material that would be more environmentally friendly than plastic!

Dani Dennenberg - Portland, OR — third episode!
I'm returning to continue holding myself accountable - when I act in alignment with my values, I feel the best about myself. So, one could say that it's self-interest motivated!

Most ridiculous plastic items manufactured today: among them, plastic flowers (this is what plants are for - sharing a home with a plant is great and long-term! - and the irony of creating something so unnatural out of something so destructive is mind boggling), plastic that goes on furniture (why have a piece of furniture?!)...oh, and six pack rings - beyond the harmful, painful impact on wildlife, there's a hidden marketing scheme in there - most people think they need to consume items in quantities of 6 whenever a six pack surrounds the item, but they only need to purchase one of that item! The six pack ring was partially created to encourage larger purchases! It feels great to be a critical thinking consumer.

My weakest and biggest challenge - always food-related! The plastic lining that comes around my containers of Soy Delicious "icecream" tofu (I welcome feedback on alternatives that don't necessarily involve making it from scratch) and none other than Tings (healthy, vegan version of Cheetohs). That nutritional yeast baked to perfection gets me every time!


I hope the quilt travels the universe - in actuality, I'd be happy if it made its way through every Portland school to get young people on board! Community!

Jo Grishman - Portland, OR — new!
PRE: After reading about the Leave No Plastic Behind project through the Regional Arts & Culture Council website yesterday, my mind was immediately catapulted into thinking about the changes I have already made in my plastic usage habits, which have significantly changed in the past few years. It also challenged me to examine what changes I can still make. I feel great about the changes we have made, yet there is still so far to go. What I believe to be the biggest problem in our plastic driven society, is the so called chic boutique bottled water obsession, a ban we have implemented in our home long ago. We even make our own sparkling water. More importantly, when I began to think about what I can do to make even more changes I at first felt overwhelmed and then empowered. The things that have landed in my bag of items already purchased from merely one day into the project astounded me. I am already making changes in my head planning for my next shopping trip purchases as well as having my husband and partner in crime make changes as well. He will begin bringing a reusable cup to the coffee shop now to accompany his reusable lunch container that he has carried for the past year. I also just brought my own reusable container for deli meat at the market, and asked for the price label so I could put it on myself (an idea I got from [this] website, thank you very much!)

I have been a found object artist for a number of years and this opportunity is incredibly inspiring and invigorating. I hope this fever is contagious! I am so ready to be on board for the first time but not the last time in this LNPB quilt project. This is not just a one time novelty. It is the beginning of a continued life style change. I am faced with both welcome problem solving all the changes I can make but on the flip side, the frustration I feel watching others living in the disposable mindset environment around me. It leaves wondering if I have the power to make an impact of change and influence their habits as well. Our kids have left the nest, but I am trying to still influence their choices by the example I set. I believe it is still possible to reach them as well as other family members and friends. It’s a start! I am so psyched to be a part of this important movement!

"Ingredients For Life?"
NFS
POST: I ironed layer upon layer of plastic bags and straws to create a dense mess. There is nothing aesthetic about the piece. I thought it might be pleasing to look at once I began composing it like a mosaic, but after melting it all together, it was clear to me that there can be nothing aesthetic about plastic. It became a true reflection of the mess that plastic creates in our environment. There is no place for it in our lives! I regretfully had to recycle much more plastic that I collect during this time period, that would not even fit into the quilt. This said, I have significantly reduced my purchases of plastic packaged foods, yet still, there were those items I purchased that sadly offered me no choice in packaging. I am still going to strive to make even more changes in my purchasing habits, even if it means changing what items I buy, so that I may consume less plastic.

Brie Hilliard - Portland, OR — new!
PRE: I am not an artist. Actually, the act of sitting down and attempting to be artistic completely stresses me out. That being said though, if there is one thing that I am passionate about, it is conservation and sustainability. I hope that passion will inspire me to produce something that might possibly be considered art at the end of this three months. I look forward to both the sustainability and creative challenges presented by this project.

POST: My quilt square primarily represents my food choices over the three month project. What it doesn't show is the effect that it had on me and what I have been able to eliminate since beginning the project. I am now making my own yogurt and bread, so the plastics associated with them have been completely eliminated from my life. This has been a valuable experiment in consumption tracking. Now on to learning how to make cheese!

Nastassja "Staj" Pace — Portland, OR — new!
PRE: During college, I spent my final year digging deep within myself and trash cans to try and make sense of this consuming, capitalist culture I have grown up in. My year-long, thesis project consisted of four hand-bound books made from waste: the leftover product of what is consumed. Written upon the pages, which were made from discarded and found trash, including fast-food wrappers, paper towels, newspaper and shopping bags, were reflections; the connections between my personal behaviors, my concerns, and my frustrations with consumption and waste.

Since then I have continued to research and educate myself and others on the importance of recycling, reusing and minimizing waste. I have continued to collect discarded waste, some with the intention of creating art and some with the intention of diverting it from a landfill. I want to be a participant in LNPB's Episode #6 to continue to learn, be challenged, create art, and to educate others about the living plastic free!

I expect my biggest challenge to be the large amount of plastic bags I collect from my work, how to incorporate all of them into my square, and where to store them. Everyday our food vendors deliver produce in plastic. I usually save about a weeks worth in my locker, which fills its full-length size almost totally full. I use these bags in my plastic square by sewing them together; creating layers, almost like the pages of a book, and presenting them together, to tell a story.


POST: Shortly after I started the project my work asked me to stop saving the plastic bags from the vendors. I nixed the old idea and started saving plastic I personally use. A pattern quickly emerged. Most of the products were specific to being a female. I always thought of myself as a fairly natural woman, but this project made me feel plastic and fake. As young girls we are often expected to play with plastic dolls and Barbie, almost as if preparing us for the future when we become our own doll to dress, accessories, beautify, and deodorize. From this project, if anything, it's reiterated to me the purchasing power women hold in our society and that it is, in fact, up to us to purchase products wisely and to teach and inspire our families and friends to do the same. - Nastassja

Taylor Cass Stevensen — Portland, OR — third episode!
PRE: I am inspired by quantity. I have been saving up those little, colorful
plastic bread tabs and, seeing them all together, I want thousands more so
that I can do something huge with them. It will take ages, though, I'm
not much of a bread-eater.




POST: I made my squares with an interest in preserving the original look of
certain discarded materials. It’s hard to appreciate packaging, despite
that it was produced by designers and given a great deal of thought. As
someone with a soft spot for rejects and discards, I am starting to
appreciate the form of these products that litter our world.