Why we’re doing this

One role of the artist is to be aware of current events, and respond to these issues. For Jen and I, we’ve noticed plastic pollution increasing over the course of our own lives. We’ve witnessed the convenience and the pitfalls of our culture’s reliance on single-use items.

For me, on a recent visit to Honolulu, I spent much of my vacation collecting plastic out of the ocean. It seems that there really isn’t anywhere on the earth that is untouched anymore. There’s even an entire island of trash floating in the Pacific that is larger than Texas. This trajectory feels unsafe and rather illogical to me. So, I wanted to do something.

As an artist, I respond with art. I believe that art touches people in a different way than a protest, or informational brochure.

The performance art I create is abstract, so it’s up to the audience to determine their own takeaways for themselves.

For me, going deep into an emotional space and allowing others to view me in that space is very vulnerable. I believe that sharing vulnerability is powerful.

making costumes from trash

We wanted to evoke emotions for viewers through visuals, movement, and music. For the visuals, we created custom trash costumes as a way to “carry” our own trash on our bodies. We imagined our characters as “the spirit of nature,” which guided our movements throughout the performance.

We called the art piece, “What Remains,” which is meant to provoke thought on what actually remains on the earth after we die.

We especially wanted to explore the lack of awareness people have in regards to the waste they create, and try to challenge that in our performance.