Chromophobia | A SEEK Raleigh Project

About the Artwork

Artist Kelsey Merreck Wagner is creating a series of weavings from trash and recycled materials that will be suspended in the lobby at Abbotts Creek Community Center. She has also created a large loom that the community is invited to weave into with scrap material to co-create an artwork. The loom will remain in the lobby until September when the suspended weavings are installed.

The artwork, Chromophobia, consists of 4 weavings, all over 50 feet long. The woven textiles are made from recycled materials, including plastic bags, product wrappers, fiber waste, old clothing, housewares, holiday decorations, and technology cords.

Artist Bio

Kelsey Merreck Wagner (b. 1990) is a textile artist and environmental activist. She received her B.A. (Studio Arts; focus: printmaking) at Western Michigan University; her M.A. (Cultural Studies & Sustainability; focus: community-engaged arts) at Appalachian State University, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University (Anthropology; focus: human-animal relationships, environmental art, and activism). She has exhibited work internationally in Cambodia, Thailand, Canada, and Italy, as well as across the United States including Illinois, Texas, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, and Michigan; and has done curatorial work with and for art, culture and education institutions around the world. Her research and artmaking are at the nexus of aesthetics, anthropological inquiry of environmental ruin at human hands, and hope for socio-environmental justice. She is especially interested in using art to raise awareness, initiate critical conversations, and spark change towards coexistence among all species on the planet.

Instagram @trash_weaver
Website kelseymerreckwagner.com

SEEK Raleigh

SEEK Raleigh is an experimental public art program by Raleigh Arts that engages the community through public art in City of Raleigh Parks, greenways, and/or community spaces. The program provides an opportunity for artists to introduce the public to new, unusual, and thought-provoking experiences through temporary public art.

Learn more and apply to the SEEK Raleigh artist call

About Raleigh Arts

Raleigh Arts, a part of the City of Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department, fosters and promotes the arts in Raleigh by administering the programs of the Raleigh Arts Commission and the Public Art and Design Board and supporting the Pullen and Sertoma Arts Centers.

SEEK Raleigh Projects

SEEK Raleigh Artist Call