Marsha Makes Design Studio Blog: As Promised

I am excited to share photos from the wonderful Earth Day 2022 Event, held in New York! It was a wonderful morning, with many community members in attendance.

Here is the press release (with photo) that accompanied the show:

Marsha Borden is excited to bring her artwork to First Congregational Church, 58 North Main Street, as part of their Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 23, 2022 from 10 to 12 noon. Marsha has made many items out of reused plastic bags, including a tea set, a granny square blanket, autumn leaves, lichen, coronaviruses, jellyfish, a skirt, and a hyperbolic plane. Examples of her work will be on display at the event. In addition, participants will be able to use recycled materials (provided) to add to an interactive, on-site art installation.

A native of Naples, New York, Marsha is a Connecticut-based artist who works primarily in textile-based mediums. She frequently uses recycled plastic bags as her raw material but has been known to create art with used tea bags, paint chips, discarded banana peels, and old clothing. Marsha’s work has been juried into numerous national and local exhibitions. A recent solo show in Connecticut featured over 20 large scale works made entirely of upcycled grocery bags and newspaper bags. Marsha has been featured in several print and online publications, including the Hartford Courant, the New Haven Independent, The Guilford Courier and The Arts Paper. Reviewers of her work note, “Borden examines, with equal parts playfulness and pensiveness, the strange dynamic in the way we casually acquire and dispose of single-use plastic bags in our day-to-day lives” and “(she) transform(s) what we might otherwise throw away into an intentional meditation on waste.”

While plastic carryout bags are currently banned in many states, many items like plastic drinking straws, Styrofoam containers, balloons, and discarded clothing continue to negatively impact the environment. Marsha says, “As consumers, we all want to do our part, like reusing and trying to use less and consume less. But at the same time, plastic producers need to be held more accountable. We need to demand better systems from the makers of plastics so we can really put a dent in the plastic problem.” As Marsha’s work evolves, she hopes to continue to explore ways to raise awareness of plastic pollution by making art.

Here are some photos from the day of the event: