Michelle Lougee

Nests

Produced from collected post-consumer plastic that would otherwise find its way to a landfill, these pieces are easy to look at, cheerful even, but they represent deep problems in our culture and environment.

Hanging weaver bird nests in Africa and caterpillar cocoons in the butterfly garden remind me of the ambitious refuse that makes its way into trees at home.

Lougee uses the bags to make nests or little critters, thereby creating stress between the plastic and the natural. Her ladder-like work, Ascent, with its dangling teardrop constructions—much like insect larvae cocoons or bird’s nests—tapers as it reaches the top rung. This narrowing of maneuvering room suggests that our choices are being circumscribed by our use of unnatural materials.
—B. Lynch, Director, Trustman Art Gallery