Charity Ridpath - Grocery Bag Ring

Artist: Charity Ridpath
Materials: plastic grocery bag, silver
Size: 7 3/4
Dimensions: 2.5 inches height, 1/32 inch band width

Artist Statement:
For a whole year in 2018 I collected all of the single-use plastic I used to better understand my own footprint. Since then, I have been working to transform this collection of plastic into nature-inspired, wearable compositions. I subvert the traditional ideas of jewelry as objects with value and symbols of status by replacing gold and jewels with plastic sculptures. With this piece I have taken a plastic grocery bag and woven it onto a silver fabricated loom/ring. The store’s logo printed onto the bag is what brings red into this textural ring.

Artist Bio:
Charity Ridpath is primarily inspired by the meaning and manipulation of unconventional materials. Currently, she is working with single-use plastic to explore her own contribution to our waste stream at large. Much of her practice takes its cues from how nature organizes itself to create solutions. She uses repetition and accretion techniques to create her contemporary jewelry and wearable sculptures. In 2019 she earned a BFA in Studio Practice with a specialization in Metals from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She lives and works in Austin, Texas.

This ring is part of Battle of the Rings: Ring Smackdown 2021, an online exhibition and competition. Shop the entire collection HERE, view the matches HERE, and learn more HERE.