Compost: A Love Story

"Compost: A Love Story" (2023)

Special Thanks: Billions of hardworking microbes living, dying, warring, and fornicating on your kitchen counter.

Description: Humans make a ton of garbage, someone's got to clean it up. 1 year, 4 people, 3 square meals a day; food scraps go in, compost comes out.

Artist Statement

"Compost: A Love Story" is an intimate exploration of the beauty found in unexpected places. Through sensuous and colorful photographs, this exhibit depicts the year-long transformation of a family's food scraps in suburban Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Richly colored molds and fungi are captured in exquisite detail, revealing the intricate patterns and textures of rotting fruits such as orange, banana, and strawberry.

As a child shopping at the small A&P store in Pompton Plains, I learned that many fruits were only available seasonally, a reality that has changed drastically today. This exhibit honors our food and the people who produce it by exploring what happens to it once we're done with it. Through these photographs, we are reminded that composting is not only an act of environmental mindfulness, but an essential practice that contributes to our understanding of our place in the web of food.

"Compost: A Love Story" invites viewers to contemplate the hidden beauty of decay, and to consider the importance of honoring the cycle of life and death in all aspects of our lives. In the face of the Anthropocene and the sixth mass extinction, this exhibit serves as a poignant reminder of the need for greater awareness and mindfulness in our relationship with the environment.