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Michelle Lougee

How does your work address the relationship between the human and natural worlds? 

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My work addresses the impact of our consumerist society on nature. The forms are joyful reverence to nature – with a warning. Produced from crocheted post-consumer plastic that would otherwise find its way to a landfill, whimsical and playful forms illustrate tension between material and concept, while contemplating profound problems in our culture and environment. Plastic waste is flowing from everywhere- packaging, medicine, and restaurants, and it is endangering our ecosystem. 

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I have developed a multi step fiber technique using disposable single use plastic to make sculpture for my personal studio work. My techniques are also uniquely suited for community engagement projects to mobilize participants on many levels. A recent public art project involved over 100 participants, thousands of collected and processed plastic bags and resulted in 38 pieces of sculpture installed along the Minuteman Bikeway in Arlington, MA. A project of this type could easily be integrated into STEM or STEAM programming. 

I encourage viewers to take a new look at ourselves, our habits, and our precious planet. My work reflects our increasingly precarious relationship with the planet by contrasting material with imagery that range from microscopic forms to representations of nature.

 

 

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Biography

 

Michelle Lougee’s meticulously crafted otherworldly sculpture focuses on discarded plastic remnants of the human presence in nature, particularly life sustaining floating microcosms being choked out by plastic waste. Lougee recently completed a year-long Public Art Residency with the town of Arlington, MA which culminated in 38 pieces of sculpture installed along the Minuteman Bikeway. In 2019, she was Artist in Residence at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston. Her work has been exhibited locally at the Boston Sculptors Gallery, the Fuller Craft Museum, The Christian Science Plaza, and The Heritage Museum and Gardens. Her artwork has been shown internationally in Germany, Peru and Canada. 

Lougee creates a themed series of works which are shown as large installations or intimate groupings. She is represented by the Boston Sculptors Gallery. In addition, she teaches at Lesley University School of Art and Design. She studied sculpture at Boston University. Lougee resides with her family in Cambridge, MA and maintains a studio at Vernon Street Studios in Somerville,MA. 

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Discoidea

Crocheted plastic, wire and resin,

4’ x 4’ x 15”

2020

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Lougee,seedpod_2093.jpg

Seedpod

Crocheted plastic, wire and resin,

15” x 15” x 15”

2017

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Capsule

Crocheted plastic, wire and resin, 30” x 19” x 14”

2018

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Discoidea

detail

Lougee, seedpod, det_2541.JPG

Seedpod

detail

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Capsule

detail

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