JAVA JONES
Untitled (With Force) [TWBLWD series]
2019
48” x 53” x 28”
Medium: Recycled bodega bags, saran wrap
ABOUT THE WORK
This work is part of the series, TWBLWD .
Cultivating a sustainable practice connects me to home. Like many yards of blk families I observed growin up in Marion and Selma, Alabama, my grandparents’ backyard always contained a sundry of seemingly defunct objects that had been nigga rigged to maintain function. And til this day, inside their trailer home, counters are replete with stacks of reused styrofoam plates and cups and assorted plastic utensils; and cabinets are stuffed with plastic bags. This resourcefulness inspired me to pivot towards an environmentally sensitive and sustainable practice.
The TWBLWD (The Weight Becomes Lighter with Distance) series considers the resourceful approaches to survival that I observed at home in Marion and Selma, Alabama. It is a record of my fascination with the lifespan of a seemingly disposable material, and how I think about creating within a Western fine arts canon largely dependent on collectability and reduction. The plastic also acts as a marker of post-consumerism. And my use of its volatile nature gestures to domesticity, travel and survival. The material undergoes an intense transformation, under pressure of heat, as it spreads, curls, thickens, blooms and bursts, yet endures. It lives. And it’ll be all that’s left.
