Today we’d like to introduce you to Carol Sogard.
Hi Carol, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and moved to Salt Lake City after college because it is such an amazingly beautiful place and I love the outdoors. I received my master’s degree in Graphic Design from the University of Utah and worked as an art director for Winterstick Snowboards briefly before I joined the Art faculty at the University of Utah.
Since then, I have worked as a designer, educator, and community-engaged artist. Although these areas of creative research are distinct in output, they purposefully overlap them under the theme of sustainability. My work sheds light on the environmental impacts of plastic waste, habitat destruction, industrial pollution, and climate change.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There are always little struggles – but that’s life. I think it took me some time to really discover who I was as an artist/designer and to figure out what was important to me, both personally and professionally. It is probably one of the reasons why I came here. I was at a place in my life where I felt like I needed to move away from what was familiar to me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am most likely known for my work with reclaimed plastics. The single-use plastic bag is among the most detrimental by-products of our consumption. Plastics represent the eternal artifacts of our modern world. It will never biodegrade and survive for centuries in landfills. It breaks up into tiny little pieces that contaminate soil, pollute oceans and endanger species. Through the process of collecting reclaimed plastic bags and manipulating them through heat fusing, sewing, and weaving; this work explores the use of plastic as a long-term functionally designed art object rather than simply a by-product of our daily habit of consumption.
When I first started experimenting with plastic bags as a medium, I began by layering them together to create a more resilient material. Heat fusing is the most effective way to do this. However, heat fusing comes with its own challenges; the off gassing associated with melting plastics. Over time, I explored other ways to work with plastics and this is when I started weaving. I loved the basic geometric patterns that I was able to create by weaving strips of plastic through old plastic fencing that you might see around a garden. I was able to create functional designed pieces through combining woven plastic material with old vinyl billboard that functioned as a backing for a sling-back chair or through wrapping it around a basic bucket form that functioned as a stool.
More recently I have been working with photography and patterning. My process begins with researching species and plants found on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened species. Imagery is then sourced from 19th-century biodiversity literature or photographed and digitally composed with physical evidence of environmental threats. From a broad view, the resulting patterns feel aesthetically pleasing. On closer look, it is a disturbing representation of the evolution of nature during the Anthropocene – a time during which human activity is the dominant influence on climate and the environment. In this work, decontextualized materials and images are harmoniously woven into a new context and environment in which they were unintended to belong but naturally fit within. The reveal of the message is subtle and embedded within the experience of interacting with it.
We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking.
I wouldn’t view myself as a risk-taker. That word seems like it comes from a place of superiority. I do think that there is an element of risk-taking when choosing a path in life. It would have been easier for me to choose a profession that has more reliable outcomes for success. So, I guess by choosing to work in visual art and design there is an element of risk there.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.carolsogard.com
- Instagram: @carolsogard
Image Credits
Carol Sogard
