Artist: Laura EliasonTitle: The Lady PilotMedium: mixed media (95% recycled materials)Dimensions: variableArtist Statement: About 95% of the materials are reclaimed from fashion industry waste including fabrics, yarns, threads, etc. I love that Isle of Dogs gave us a landscape called ‘trash island’, how on-point. In general we are so out-of-sight-out-of-mind about the things we dispose of, but really it all has to end up somewhere, right? Anyway the point being, I really wanted to waste as little as possible making this piece and I wanted to support businesses working to change the way we think about waste. The jacket is partly made of fabric that I knitted at the Textile Arts Center, a learning center and community in NYC advocating for the handmade. The rest of the fabrics I got through a company called FabScrap, an amazing organization that works to find uses for textiles that would otherwise fill landfills. I made the headpiece from a broken hanger and tiny flashlight. The bum bag was picked up at a clothing swap. If you take a picture of the garments with your flash on, the reflective tape creates a bright glow. I loved The Little Pilot and it was engaging for me to project the character into an unknown future on to an adult woman, our Lady Pilot. I have so many questions for her: What do you fly? Who is your dog? What can you salvage, build, reclaim from trash? Who and what will you fight for?This work is featured in Isle of Dogs a tribute show to the Wes Anderson film - on view November 9th - 11th, 2018 in NYC. Payment plans are available on certain works, please email [email protected] for more information.
