Christy Rupp, an urban eco-artist, has been observing the waste stream and its impact on habitat since the 70’s. In creating her sculptures, she has frequently incorporated materials salvaged from the poisonous waste stream itself– including plastic netting, credit cards, discarded chicken bones and other cast off debris.
Confounded by the quantity of plastic used to package fresh produce, Rupp decided to save the netting bags and transformed them into delicate, diaphanous bird sculptures. In this body of work from 2016-17, entitled “Snagged”, she references iconic birds from art history: Fabritius’ “Goldfinch”, Miro’s “Women Throwing a Stone at a Bird”, M.C. Escher, Joan Miro, Louise Bourgeois, Brancusi, Frida Kahlo, and Lee Bontecou, as well as John James Audubon. It is the artist’s belief that our interest is stimulated when we see creatures objectified, rather than represented for their inherent wonder and complexity.
Christy Rupp has exhibited her art at The Barnes Foundation, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and NYC’s Museum of Art and Design, to name a few. She was born in Upstate New York, too young for Elvis and too old for Barbie. 50% of sculpture sales, and 100% of small print sales benefit WBF.