These 36 paintings were birthed from a garden expanse of stretched linen. The garden became infested with car icons in spray paint, and then cells slowly erupted on top. Our car-centric infrastructure results in long, purposeful journeys to prescribed destinations, limiting spontaneous interactions and shopping.

Since coming back from Europe, I found myself having to consciously combat my mindless shopping. An apparent habit that developed after I moved to suburbs and didn’t have friends to easily meet up with. My experience is not unique as researchers have found that loneliness leads to consumption (Fumagalli, et al. 2022).

It was with this foundation that I became interested in the hyper-consumption of reusable water bottles that were originally marketed to be an economically sound option to combat single-use plastic.

The garden and subsequent destruction of it was the starting point. 10”x10” squares were then harvested from two large linen paintings and stretched onto 6”x6” stretcher bars before painted with more flashe, acrylic and oil. These small paintings function as cute, collectable products displaying the irresistable products Americans love. This series will expand to feature a shelf display with these paintings stacked in front of one another to allow the audience to interact and discover more and more products (paintings) as they continue on.