Wash with Care

In the sculpture Wash with Care, leisurely activities and mundane yet daunting tasks merge to challenge the familiar and repetitive acts of self-medication. A hybrid pinball-washing machine is stuffed with bleached and unbleached textiles collected from friends, family, strangers, and laundry bins alike. The fabric, torn, cut and crocheted into a rug forms the foundation on which the hybrid objects rests. The visual transition of bleached to unbleached fabrics foreshadow a traumatic shift in the rug’s once vibrant and dynamic pattern. Cyclical processes of everyday soil and grime removal will weaken and dull the machine’s own resting mat if the bleaching action proceeds without user awareness. In an attempt to purify the psyche through the “bleaching” of traumatic memory, sentiments are numbed and coveted recollections also become faded.  

images courtesy of http://www.kaitlynjosmith.com