Katrina Perdue
garden tub revival, 2022
plastic Rubbermaid tub repaired with hemp cord 22" d x 14"h
This plastic tub was rescued from the curb after many years of use in our neighborhood garden. A drill was used to make holes for sewing hemp cordage through the plastic with a steel blunt needle. Cracked areas were sutured back together and holes were filled by darning patches with the cordage. The handles were missing, so I made new ones from several strands of hemp cord braided together. Imagine what change we could make if we all considered repair as an option before tossing something to the landfill.
Katrina Perdue
a vessel for water, 2022
rubber water bottle, cotton thread, purple heart plant cutting 13" x 8" x 2"
Mending represents emotional and physical labor while offering an alternative response to the modern realities of material excess. My work is about seeing the potential in worn-out everyday objects - not only to preserve and restore, but also to offer a renewed sense of value, appreciation, and usefulness. This visual interplay of abundance and scarcity calls into focus the paradox of fixing things in a culture of mass consumerism and disposability. Through repair, we can rethink consumption and imbue our own value on possessions and resources. Using darning techniques in traditional and nontraditional ways, stitching serves as a visual representation of mending as an act of care. To fix something – to make it whole again – is an act of healing.
