Kayli Cottonwood

Plasticity I

Install #2 (Spring 2024) Emmanual Gallery, Denver, CO

Date: 2024
Materials: Synthetic fiber, natural fiber, ceramic, brass
Dimensions: 28 in x 6 in x .5 in

This artwork is the first in my "Plasticity Series," an ongoing project that combines natural and synthetic materials. In this series, I reflect on the waste that litters riparian ecosystems in the Denver Metro Area and beyond. For the first time in my practice, I am incorporating plastics in the form of synthetic fibers—a choice I initially resisted. However, I wanted to depict the plastics polluting the landscape without resorting to a material so immediately recognizable as trash. By concealing the plastics within the artwork, I explore Western overculture's consumeristic tendencies and the detached approach to plastic disposal, particularly concerning riparian ecosystems.

See Plasticity II for the continuation of this project and my evolving ideas related to these themes.

Install #1 (Spring 2024) MSU Denver 199 Gallery Denver, CO

Published July 2026

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