Gracie Conn
Reclaimed
Styrofoam cups have been a re-occurring item that both my father and grandfather both cleaned and re-used. My grandfather did it because his family were farmers during the great depression in Crystal Springs, MS, so his mother taught him to reuse everything you can. He had stacks of the little styrofoam cups that you get at gas stations that had coffee stains on it until we could sneak it out of the house. The re-using instinct was then instilled in my father, who claimed that Chick-fil-a had the best cup, and anytime he got it he would bring his cup home, wash it, and put it in the cabinets with the rest of our cups. Slowly we started punching holes and getting rid of them so he couldn’t use them, and we got him a reusable stainless steel cup complete with a straw to use instead. My mother’s side of the family live on the bay in Biloxi, MS, so a love of the gulf was huge which was my apparrent in my childhood dream of being a marine biologist who documents animals all day. I chose to use marine imagery in my pieces because I’ve seen that is where styrofoam and other plastics usually end up. My goal with the combination of styrofoam cups with life growing around and on them is to show how once the “disposable” materials are brought into the ecosystem, animals will always adapt to survive.
Thesis Committee:
- Professor Robert Long – Chair
- Professor Michael Berk, AIA
- Professor Rowan Haug
List of Works:
- “Bottom Feeders” Clay L x 3“ x 10”
- “Straws ” Clay L x 3“ x 10”
- “Community Coffee” Clay L x W x 9”
- “Styrofoam Stack” Clay 26” x 11” x 12”
Community Coffee
Bottom Feeders
Straw Struck
Styrofoam Reef
