My work begins with the exploration of discards and detritus cast aside in the age of the Anthropocene. This new epoch, ‘Anthropocene’, refers to the current era in which human-made processes impact the geological record of the Earth and it’s planetary cycles for climate, ocean, and mineral circulation, among others. In my practice, materials of our time, deemed no longer useable, are not actually ‘discarded from the system– there is no ‘away’. Trash is a human invention; ‘the garbage’ is not a place. Alongside secondhand economies, there exists a limbo, a margin where matter and ideas slip from a designed function out of sight, out of mind. My work comes as result of experiencing and existing in that space, that blind spot where objects predesigned ideas of our lives fade from view. It is here where the next narrative, my work, begins. Biological forms, historic ornamentation, and geometry inform shapes while iterative pattern and serial organization create texture, generating objects reflective of our time.

Additionally, Kate Rusek is a Daytime Emmy nominated designer and builder of costumes, puppets, and props with freelance and commercial clients including The Jim Henson Company, NBC Universal, EP Entertainment Partners, and the greater New York City performing arts community.

Kate Rusek’s work is made possible through a subsidized Chashama studio dedicated to the use of 100% reclaimed and recycled materials.