San Diego Art Institute is pleased to present “Consume”, a solo project by Cat Chiu Phillps at SDAI Project Space in Horton Plaza. The opening reception will take place at the SDAI Project Space, 141 Horton Plaza, on Saturday, January 7 from 12pm-2pm. The exhibition will be open Saturdays and Sundays, 12pm-5pm and will run until Sunday, January 29.
“Consume” provides a playful response to the abundance of discarded materials in our culture of consumption. The work juxtaposes the handmade with the machine-made, transforming junk into an aesthetic entity. The exhibition seeks to initiate a dialogue regarding abundance, post-consumer products, and the frivolity of mass production. Select projects in “Consume” include Plarn House, a large-scale, crocheted structure completely covered in used plastic bags. This piece provides visitors a tactile and immersive experience, reminiscent of makeshift shelters, albeit displaying a resourcefulness and playful ingenuity. Additionally, Charge invites viewers to create their own credit card and collaborate in completing the installation while enabling them to play the role of consumer. In Consumed, visitors will be able to walk through a hanging installation of black, plastic bottles.
About Cat Chiu Phillips:
Growing up in Manila, Cat Chiu Phillips experienced and witnessed the overwhelming amount of pollution, poverty, over-population, and constant battle against natural disasters. She explores these ideas in her work, using various found materials and discarded items. She creates installations and public art projects using recycled products including plastic grocery bags, e-waste such as VHS tapes, cassettes, film and slides. Cat has received awards from the California Arts Council, San Diego International Airport Public Arts Commission, City of Chula Vista Public Arts Commission, the Lower East Side Ecology Center in New York, the City of Solana Beach, Kala Art Institute, and the City of Vista Public Arts Commission.
This project is supported, in part, by an “Artists Activating Communities” grant from the California Arts Council.