I work with environmental issues, specifically water pollution. There is very little that can affect a person’s body as much as their environment. The body absorbs what is around it and is able to adapt, metabolize and heal. When drinking water is polluted our bodies are stressed and while they try to heal it is not always possible. The introduction of minerals and heavy metals is detrimental to the environment and may never be removed.
In my own work I use clay and mining waste, specifically iron right now, to explore the irremovability of pollutants from the organic. I am currently leaching rust and iron into clay. I am using two techniques to do so: first I am creating rigs that let water and iron sit on the clay and slowly seep in, second I am using running water to erode the clay, introducing iron I am able to create natural feeling riverbeds. I am using clay because it can be dissected, it is pristine and it has density. The clay serves as an analogue to nature, living creatures and our own bodies.
I am not sure how I would use the polluted clay. I was thinking of cutting cross-sections and making bathroom tiles. I could also display the riverbeds as is, focusing on its texture. I want to associate the clay with day-to-day life and living with pollution’s irremovability. Taste is also important to my project.
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