Included in this group exhibition, juried by M.E. Ware are works in a variety of media addressing the issues surrounding and resulting from the insidious desire for consumption and the waste products produced by fulfilling that need. Examples are an installation by Chicago artist, Mary Ellen Croteau, who uses plastic bottle caps of various colors in "Endless Columns", named after Constantin Brancusi's iconic work, to comment on the endless amount of plastic waste we each contribute to the environment. Kitty Hubbard employs a variety of media on her re-purposed grocery bags, including scanned grocery lists, and handwritten memories. The work speaks of a time when brown paper grocery bags found use as book covers and wrapping paper. 

M.E. Ware is Associate Professor and the head of Sculpture at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, where she teaches a wide variety of studio and critical theory courses. She is committed to research and teaching and conducts lectures, presentations and workshops at national conferences, seminars and universities.  

Artwork by Sarah Hahne

Woman Made Gallery (WMG) presents a solo show with select works by Sarah Hahne. In her statement Hahne writes: "The focus of this body of art is the 4 Rs of consumer waste: reduce, reuse, recycle, and reclaim but the underlying theme is Metta. Metta is a 2,500 year old convocation. It is a 4 part thought, wish, or blessing that is sent out in 4 tiers, starting with the self and moving outward. In this work I have made a connection between the 4 aspects of Metta and the 4 Rs of consumer waste management."

Artwork by M.E. Ware

Woman Made Gallery (WMG) presents a solo show with select works by M.E. Ware. This body of work consists of wearable and conceptually wearable garments designed to illuminate contemporary society's need for ceremony and ritual as well as to question the commodification of spirituality. These garments and their display mechanisms use irony and humor to expose the deficiencies of modern ideology and social discourse with regard to our human desire for "meaning" and a purposeful life. The juxtaposition of traditional media such as cast iron and bronze with non-traditional, post-consumer "waste products" encourages a more thorough investigation of the issues these works embody: gender roles and job inequity, consumer debt, product poisoning, health care, natural resources and environmental destruction.