Soft Snare embodies the allure and disarming ease of plastic. Through the coupling of unspecific and predictable plastic with rare heritage breed sheeps wool, Soft Snare examines the quiet way in which plastic has worked itself into our lives and the natural world. Highlighting the multimodal nature of both plastic and wool, I demonstrate how wool’s many forms are its greatest asset and how plastic’s ability to take infinite forms is its greatest threat. I have found a landing spot in hand skill, a reactionary impulse away from increasingly place-less mechanization. These hand craft methods allow me to push the material capabilities of both wool and plastic. 

Each work begins with the cleaning and processing of the raw fleeces in order to spin it into yarn or capture its natural curly form. Sourced from small farms in the Midwest, this geographically specific wool provides a grounding in space and environment. Expressive and highly emotive of the environment in which it grew, the wool acts as a surrogate for the larger natural world.

Influenced and inspired by a lifetime of living and traveling in the Midwest, this work investigates the material output of regional ecologies and localized experiences with the onslaught of synthetic materials. I was raised surrounded by the visual juxtaposition of heavily industrialized factory areas buttressed by farm fields. This contrast has inspired me to embrace visual conflict and contradiction in my own work, combining disparate visual references to create an environment of wonder and confusion. These alien forms emerge to engage with the alarming and fantastical phenomena created by the climate crisis. Soft Snare speculates on plastic and its possible future expressions as it permeates deeper into the natural world.