As a citizen artist, I create transitory, playfully gestural works that affect change in the local environment. I developed this project that addresses HRM’s health and wellness by re-imagining and re-presenting found food packaging waste in a symbolic and direct manner for public ‘reconsumption’ and reflection. This project will lead me to initiate political dialogue with the public through an installation performance, which is an exciting new direction.

Fast-food Foray was slowly born as I was completing a community art project at St. Joseph A McKay elementary school, which used recyclable and found materials incorporated into the surface decoration of some trash can covers we produced to improve the schoolyard environment. At the time of that project I was also personally researching the ecology of the forest floor and the fauna that it supported as part of my art practice. Part of my study brought me into the field of mycology – the study of fungi.

Mushrooms play a key role in our environment by breaking down plant and animal material. Unable to produce their own energy to grow, many fungi live in a symbiotic relationship with other organisms. The underground structure of mushrooms consists of a ‘mycelial mat’, connecting the fungi’s fruiting bodies together. My creative process will mimic this important role that mushrooms play in the cycle of natural interconnectedness and mutual dependency in the world, that recontextualized, reflects our cultural relationship to the built environment and our urban society.