What Washed Up Today?
Caroline MacMoran
Residency September 30-October 13, 2025
Reception Sunday October 13, 2-4pm

What Washed Up Today? is an installation of recent work influenced by my move to an island off the coast of Massachusetts. During daily walks I gather marine debris scattered over 2 miles of northern shore on Martha’s Vineyard.

What washes ashore tells a story of season, weather, neglect and the absence of protective environmental policy. Summer is plastic beach toy parts and picnic leave-behinds; fall is lures from the island fishing derby. A storm brings seaweed mounds full of straws, plastic tampon holders and boat maintenance parts. Fishing rope and pieces of lobster pots are ever present—a harbinger of the entanglement suffered by marine mammals. Many of the objects I find are completly unfamiliar.

The process of collecting is akin to foraging as I search for prosaic objects that have been carried on the water, washed ashore, discarded or overlooked. This act of searching is as much a part of my art practice as the objects I find. Wandering and wondering become integral gestures in the creative exercise. Through assemblage and installation, I create delicate, minimalist sculpture that suggests linguistical notation and inflection.

Each relic of waste is an archive of the unknown. Who did this belong to and did it start it’s use from one or thousands of miles away? I consider this as I gather, sort, clean and dry my collection. The surviving traces become ethereal objects of perseverance and mementos of anonymity.