Fran Beallor

Dead Horse Bay

Loosened landfill washes up on the shores of Dead Horse Bay, dominated by the glass detritus of a lost age. Led there by a seasoned mudlarker,
I find beauty, and a little dark humor, in the tossed off trash of our culture.

My subject in these not-so-still lifes is ocean-loosened 1950s landfill trash collected from Dead Horse Bay, Brooklyn. 

Using ocean-loosened 1950s landfill trash collected from Dead Horse Bay, Brooklyn, I create not-so-still lifes in oil and pencil. My wonderful friend and guide is ecological restorationist and retired New York City Parks Department Chief Naturalist, Mike Feller. On trips to the site we joined fellow scavengers combing through the landfill junk looking for treasures, and came home with photos and bags of fabulous relics: tossed off 50s trash.

In addition to bearing witness to this unique and bizarre phenomenon, these works find the beauty in that which is cast away, as they draw attention to the condition of our world and the effects of a disposable culture. My penchant for depicting objects floating, falling, or flying in a mysterious, ambiguous manner of suspended animation adds lightness and humor to an otherwise serious concern.