63W x 95H x 10D" 

17 piece Acrylic, Charcoal, and Resin Paper Sculptures with Old-Growth Redwood 

Christi Meril

Artist Statement:

Some things we carry willingly: the memory of a place, the love of another person, a hope we are still finding words for. Other things enter our lives without our choosing. What we hold close and what we allow others to see can be very different. 

The anchor of Christi Meril’s “What We Carry” series, this installation brings together seventeen pieces: ten paper sculptures and seven pieces of old-growth redwood. Meril made the sculptures from eighteen grocery bags and four lunch bags, deconstructed, painted, sculpted, and resined. She chose bags because their purpose is so familiar. We fill them, carry them from one place to another, and often set them aside without a thought. Here, they ask us to consider everything we bring with us that cannot be seen. 

The redwood carries its own long history alongside the paper. Openings in the sculpted bags offer glimpses within, while other parts remain closed. We each decide what to protect, what to reveal, and when we are ready to let someone else see inside. 

“What We Carry” makes space for what feels heavy and for what is precious: all the things that become part of us as we find our way home.