Kennedy With Blue Helmet, 2023. Acrylic on Panel, 6 x 6 inches.

Public Works is a collection of photos that personifies a relationship between common utility items. This collection seeks to identify public utility items and create an imaginary relationship between them. Items within the collection represent the relationships that we have amongst co-workers within our own environment. By creating these imaginary relationships we identify objects of utility with a new found sense of respect for the environment around us. A simple mop may be used to clean the floors, however paired with another may be reimagined as someone merely sharing their lunch break. Electricity meters that cower in the corner of an alleyway may be seen as a collection of coworkers simply socializing with one another. As we identify these items we must take into account the daily use and wear that inhibits these objects. Each object is always working with no days off, collecting rust, dirt, grease, and filth. This collection seeks to show us an alternate reality where the items we use take on a life of their own. By viewing Public Works, one may question how often we oversee and take for granted the many advancements that we have made, created to make our lives easier, and emerge with a newly found respect for the very objects that surround us. 

This project started when I was cleaning the floors at my own job and saw some mops that were standing up in a corner of the room. The way they were positioned reminded me of two people that were just merely conversing while on break. The idea occurred to me that a body of work could be created to represent how we identify relationships that are created within our own environments. The observation of animals that live symbiotically was a big influence on how we live among common utility items that remain silent and stuck in a corner until we find use for them. The challenge with this collection was to identify items that projected a certain drama within their own environment. I looked at different water pumps and electrical meters and picked some that seemed to resonate with me. 

Public Works reimagines the scenery around us that we often walk past or dismiss of just common items that surround us. This work should be used to slow down the viewer and take note of all the advancements in our public spaces as well as give a new found appreciation of our own environments.