This piece is a result of my love for documenting trash. Very often in art, your subject is just as significant to the meaning of a piece as the creative process, artist’s intention, and materials used. Trash by definition is essentially valueless to a capitalist society as is evident by the way we dispose of our trash, treat the people who dispose of and treat our trash, and the lack of efficacy of our recycling and composting infrastructure.

I believe that the value of trash has always lied in the stories it tells about the people it once belonged to. You can learn about someone’s routine, favorite foods, social and economic status from their trash. Where trash is left or disposed of tells another story, whether in a heap on a sidewalk, in a dumpster, in an overflowing bin, on the forest floor, floating in the ocean, balled up in a pocket, or scattered around the floor of a theater. Each habitat for trash hosts a myriad of stories that I wish we all paid more attention to as a collective.