My current “Trash Towers” are sculptures made with recycled materials obtained from a community trash pickup, personal trash, and discarded cardboard shipping materials. The “Towers’” painted surfaces both conceal and reveal the archeology of cultural debris, as process and materials are exposed through transparent layers of color. Intentionally placed off-kilter, these constructions in dialogue with one another, create visual conversations, implying a wide range of metaphoric associations. These works have been influenced by sustainable art and architecture found worldwide such as: Japanese Boro; the homes built by garbage collectors in Fustat, Egypt, and architecture seen in the Phonsavan Province of Laos made from recycled missile and bomb casings.
Julia Coash is a Professor of Studio Art and Art History at Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, CT. She has also held teaching positions at Bermuda College and the American University in Cairo, Egypt. Coash received her MFA in Painting from James Madison University; her MSEd in Higher Education and BA in Ethnographic Photography both from Southern Illinois University. Her paintings and sculptures have been exhibited in Cairo, Paris, Bermuda and throughout the United States. Her interests in anthropology, travel, and visual culture are important influences on her creative work and teaching.
Email the Artist: jcoash@albertus.edu
