What do we do with all the plastic waste we're creating? On display through January 15 in the 8th floor and Congress Corridor exhibit cases, Mary Ellen Croteau's colorful work focuses on environmental issues and is constructed from non-recyclable plastic waste.
Croteau states, "Plastic is made from petroleum. It doesn’t compost or decompose. And these bags and caps are not recycled no matter what they tell you—that is too costly. So I make art with them."
Mary Ellen Croteau is a Chicago native. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago, and received a master of fine arts from Rutgers University. Croteau has exhibited and lectured nationally and internationally for over 25 years.
Since 2003, Croteau has operated a nonprofit window gallery in Chicago called Art on Armitage, bringing fine art into the Chicago streetscape where passers-by can see work by contemporary artists of many disciplines, from many countries.
