REFUSE

Refuse I _ Pillar
849 Gallery, Kentucky College of Art + Design, Louisville, KY
Ballpoint pen, paper, wood, metal
9’ x 5’w x 5’d    
2017

Refuse II
849 Gallery, Kentucky College of Art + Design, Louisville, KY
Ceramic, wood, metal, plastic, paper, rope, found and significant objects
6’ x 8’ x 15’
2017

​Refuse in concept and labor is an inquisition of “value.”
It is composed of two large works. 

Refuse I is a ballpoint pen drawing of a pillar of trash. The pillar was sculpted from scavenged refuse, lit for high contrast, and then looked at for hours while meticulously being drawn. The time spent looking and laboriously recording the pillar left a physical memory, a memorial of sorts, of these objects. 

Refuse II is a trash trailer loaded with Hartwig’s Artwork of the past 15+ years. After spending countless hours sculpting and drawing others’ waste, which was deemed valueless and thrown away, Hartwig created this work to process value in relation to herself. This forced a process of examining the value of her art, labor, and herself in relation to her work and the wider cultural value of art.
Refuse in concept and labor is about reclamation. 

​Reclaiming refuse.
Reclaiming value.
Reclaiming disillusionment.