Heat Waves

2023

72” x 72”

Woven in 2023 during the hottest months of the hottest year on record, “Heat Waves” is composed of 173 years of annual average temperature for the earth’s surface: one side oceans, one side land. I color-code the data as strands of plant- and insect-dyed linen warp. This materialization of rising temperatures is held together with petrochemical-derived fishing line to create wave-like patterns that shimmer like water. The combination of materials and data traces connections between climate crisis, extraction, and the accumulation of toxic plastics in our bodies and ecosystems. As visitors move through the gallery, they view each other through this semi-transparent textile that connects extreme temperatures to their impact on the human body.