Plastic Bags (I - XIV)

Abstract

It's in the Bag, was a solo exhibition comprising plant dyed silk textiles (Plastic Bags I – XIV) and two guided, participatory walks at Caves. Caves is a curated, not for profit art space in Melbourne, Australia. Caves shows invited local and international artists. This exhibition was part of the Internationally renowned Art + Climate = Change, 2019 Festival. The 14 supermarket bags were constructed from silk she had dyed with plants collected on local walks in Krems, Austria. The bags were taken into the streets of Melbourne by participants and were used to collect rubbish from Melbourne’s streets. Mayo’s walk and stories reimagined Elizabeth St as a creek, inviting participants to collect rubbish as if they were joining their local restoration group. Arriving back at the gallery, participants were asked to tip the rubbish on the floor and return the silk bags to their hooks. This exhibition and the guided walks brought together histories of place, plant matter as interior décor, rubbish as belonging elsewhere (certainly not inside) and the presence of plastic in our environment, in order to provoke consideration of contemporary relations to the world, including how we might take care of the places we inhabit today.