BRYAN NORTHUP

WALL RELIEFS

I was awakened to the serious problem of single-use plastics in 2015. Before that I had no idea that plastic lasts forever, never decomposing. Or the amounts of plastic produced, used and thrown away on a daily basis, all designed to be disposed of. As I researched more these facts changed my awareness and the focus of my artwork.  Now I make art out of trash that appears to be edible.  
My intent is to stage an intervention about the enormous problem of single-use plastics by forcing encounters with this toxic material in the context of art. By presenting an appetizing yet inedible banquet that may trigger our actual appetite, my work examines modern society's craving for convenience and dependence on this toxic material.   My sculpture and assemblage work is multi-faceted, some works directly reference and mimic food, appearing to be edible, while others suggest a microscopic viewpoint, the effects of plastic at the cellular level.