'Operable Units' explores connections between industry and environment

August 25, 2016 at 1:00 a.m. | Updated August 23, 2016 at 9:03 p.m.

by Staff Report

Sarah Lindley's "Exposure Pathways" was built out of actual paper found at the Plainwell Paper Mill that she folded up and glued together. Lindley told a Western Michigan University interviewer that it represents a slightly imagined version of the Kalamazoo River watershed, with every leg and tributary shown as tiny, fragile lines in a giant system.
Sarah Lindley's "Exposure Pathways" was built out of actual paper found at the Plainwell Paper Mill that she folded up and glued together. Lindley told a Western Michigan University interviewer that it represents a slightly imagined version of the Kalamazoo River watershed, with every leg and tributary shown as tiny, fragile lines in a giant system.
photo Detail of "Superfund Areas 1-5" models the stretch of the Kalamazoo River currently under remediation by the Environmental Protection Agency. When the mill closed in 2000, it left behind years and years of contamination and turned a section of the river into a Superfund site.
photo Artist Sarah Lindley

Elements used to organize EPA cleanup sites make up the art exhibit opening Wednesday, Aug. 31, at the University Art Gallery in Sewanee, Tenn.

Sarah Lindley's "Operable Units" explores the connections between industry, communities and the environment along the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. Though the project was created in response to the challenges faced by a specific place, organizers say it explores compelling questions important to all places about industry and the environment.

The installation juxtaposes two fragile constructs: the suspended structure "Exposure Pathways," which is fabricated from an abandoned ream of paper found in the former Plainwell Paper Mill, and "Superfund Areas 1-5," built of brittle clay saturated by stains and oxides.

"Exposure Pathways" references the layout of the affected area, the Kalamazoo watershed, while "Superfund Areas 1-5" models the stretch of the Kalamazoo River currently under remediation by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Lindley resides in Plainwell, Mich., less than a mile from the former Plainwell Paper Mill and the Kalamazoo River Superfund site. She has taught sculpture and ceramics at Kalamazoo College since 2001.

Lindley's artwork addresses the power dynamics between American industry and surrounding communities. With the referential and imagined landscapes in "Operable Units," she performs the roles of researcher, geographer, architect, project supervisor and laborer.

The exhibition will remain on view through Friday, Oct. 14. The artist will speak about her work on Friday, Sept. 23, at 4:30 p.m. in Convocation Hall. A free reception will follow.

Sewanee's University Art Gallery is on Georgia Avenue on the campus of the University of the South. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (all times are Central). For more information, call 931-598-1223, visit gallery.sewanee.edu or follow the gallery on Facebook.

About the artist

Sarah Lindley is a sculptor and installation artist who currently resides in Plainwell, Mich. Her work has been recognized by numerous grants and exhibitions, including biennales in France, Korea and Taiwan. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Washington. She has been an arts-industry resident in Kohler, Wisc., and was one of two inaugural faculty fellows in the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.

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