In the archeological timeline our trash is something that informs our future generations of how we lived and what our values are. Our waste is as important as the items we create with intention and will often outlast those creations. Plastics create a waste that will exist longer than most other types and perhaps longer than our species can expect to exist. This painting is inspired by a storyline in the show 30 Rock where Liz Lemon struggles with the idea of control in her life and her mortality as she witnesses the existence of a plastic bag trapped in a tree outside her apartment window and how that interrupts her mortal plans, including the reality that this plastic bag will outlive her.
Marcia Wood-Mertinooke is an artist living and working in Bedford, New Hampshire, holding a BA in Studio Art from UNH. Her work explores questions of existence and free will, using figures and graphic, symbolic backgrounds to blend realism with emotional expressionism. She is a member of the New Hampshire Women's Caucus for Art and a board member of Mosaic Art Collective.
