Industry Unraveled

"Industry Unraveled” meshes textiles and photography into a visual investigation of the economic realities of life in the Rust Belt. I've photographed various abandoned manufacturing facilities throughout Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York. These sites continue to reveal how the global economy left behind an endless number of obsolete factories, abandoned homes, environmental pollution and devastated communities. The project has recently expanded to also include regional prisons and reformatories. At these sites, I photograph the remains of what had once been thriving communities and reproduce the images into weavings via online digital production. Essentially, I am working with a new inexpensive web-based technology to present images of a dying economy. I subsequently deconstruct the photographic weavings by pulling threads from the image and often incorporate other processes such as over-dying, bleaching and manual collage using a sewing machine. The project also reflects my personal experience of leaving Pittsburgh for San Francisco and eventually feeling the financial impact of the tech economy and returning to the Rust Belt. It's been an interesting journey.