Ruth Tabancay

Adapting to New Substrates 4.0, 2023

Plastic, embroidery floss, silk organza 50" x 56" x 4?

I hope that bacteria, fungi, and larvae will digest plastics that are overwhelming the planet. But will they do it fast enough?

Ruth Tabancay

Adapting to New Substrates 4.0, 2023

Ruth Tabancay

Bleached, 2022

Yarn, needle caps and sheaths, vial caps, tubing caps, oxygen tubing, pins, styrofoam 36" x 40" x 6"

Increasing ocean temperatures, a result of global warming, can be deadly for coral reefs. Instead of stunning colors, a skeleton is left behind. For Bleached, stylized coral reef structures, crocheted in neutral colors, are interspersed with imaginary organisms created from made from plastic medical waste. Three years ago, I received a lung transplant for worsening pulmonary disease. Over the course of my decade-long illness, I accumulated all kinds of plastic waste from home injections, home infusions, and many feet of oxygen tubing. My concern for the environment dictates that I eliminate plastics as much as possible from my life. However, I’m conflicted because using plastics that deliver medication essential to my health runs counter to my beliefs.