Donna Conlon

I accumulate objects, images, or actions and reconfigure them to hone my observations and interpretations of contemporary society. I characterize and critique human behavior by uncovering the stories contained in everyday acts and discarded objects. The work addresses our disregard for and thoughtlessness toward our world, and involves both myself and the viewer in a sense of responsibility…

My work is a socio-archaeological inquiry into my immediate surroundings. I collect and accumulate ordinary objects, images, and repeated actions from my daily life and local environment, and then use them to reveal the idiosyncrasies of human nature and the contradictions inherent to our contemporary lifestyle. The development of my projects often begins with simply noticing an out-of-context object or an illogical occurrence. I have used damaged trees and plants that I have found in the woods, insects that have flown into my studio, lost shoes, and garbage from the streets and sidewalks to describe and question human behavior, especially the conflicts I observe in our urban, natural, and social environments.

The garbage of civilization and abandoned objects are the material that Donna Conlon works with. She calls her methods "socio-archaeological investigations". One of the things that interests her here is the contradictory social behavior of a throw-away society…

Nature Improvement project