FLORA
CABILI
An ongoing investigation centering a non-disposable, manufactured material, Extracted Polystyrene, as a means of storytelling to reconsider its nature and its impact in nature here in the Louisiana Gulf South. See Through is an offering for a relationship building project that explores the stories and links between land extraction, materiality, movement, permanence, and healing.
Pattern; linked, April 2023, experimental mapping prototype, found Extracted Polystyrene foam, acrylic, ink, found sheet packing material, on paper
The composition mimics sections of the land meeting the Mississippi’s water and the
patterns used are organic ones found in the river bed, in EPS foam’s composition (tight air bubbles), and inside the human body. The elevated section at the bottom left
features a large EPS fragment cut in linear patterns supposed to represent the levee
system built in New Orleans – the beginning of land exploitation here.
filled, April 2023, experimental prototype, clay,found Extracted Polystyrene foam and carved Extracted Polystyrene
This experimental artifact begins to explore how to unite EPS foam with an organic material that will fill the holes in manufactured Extracted Polystyrene foam used for packaging. I am starting to explore how to fill the spaces with what will be natural clay to depict the Mississippi River water and land taking up space in this angular petroleum byproduct cutout.
The idea for a culminating contribution will be an outdoor installation showcasing large, carved Extracted Polystyrene foam panels placed in a natural setting along with live experimental movement storytelling. The panels will be positioned at different levels and positioned at different angles and depth, but always at play with the natural light, backlit, creating shadows and reflections. Their appearance will mimic stained glass. Just like stained glass, these panels share a story. Filled with a myriad of organic and circular, cell-like shapes creating intricate patterns, they both imitate the EPS foam’s air-filled balls compacted together and our most organic parts, cells, DNA strands, organs. Manipulating EPS allows us to conceptually reconsider deep-seeded issues linked to oil extraction around us in the Gulf Coast South.
exchange, March 2023, 1 minute, improvisational movement featuring humming and artwork from soil, clay, and carbon byproducts from sites in Louisiana
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