Kate Egnaczak

Mere Pond Worry Beads

Inspired by: Unknown artist, Yellow Amber Beads Evelyn Rydz, Gulf Pile John Willis, Recycled Realities 1

found Elm Park Mere Pond debris: neon glowstick necklace, glass beer bottle

3″ x 13″

2023

My work straddles the complexity of consumerism and the reality of maintaining public urban ecosystems. Like John Willis’s practice, I gather muddy artifacts and consumer byproducts as the physical evidence of my labor, care, and concern for ecology. Responding to “society’s offloaded waste,” I collect from a paddleboard, a central physical and highly visible act of my personal interventions. The stand of Mere Pond Worry Beads represents and echos the forms of the interconnected mere ponds and islands in Elm Park. A waterlogged beer bottle was transformed in a microwave glass kiln into beads The cast-off neon glow stick necklace connects the elements and challenges viewers to consider a former swamp, then dump, turned central water feature in a historic public park as a reminder of the climate crisis affecting our entire planet on an exponential scale.

@train_by_living, FB: kate egnaczak

Bobb and Tangle

glass bottles, aluminum cans, fishing hook, tangle of fishing line found in Elm Park’s mere ponds, salvaged chicken wire and copper wire

18″ x 22″

2023

I discovered this tangle of fishing line separate from the bobbers and fish hook. I’ve found fish, turtles, and even people fishing for them, but I have never witnessed the catch. Tell your story: Draw a picture. Write a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a poem, or a story. -Picture who might wear this item. Who are they? What do they look like? What fish stories do they have? What is the place that they live in look like? -How do you think these bobbers and fishing lines got into the Elm Park Mere Ponds? Intentional or mistake?

Bug Viewers

glass bottles, insects and snail from Elm Park ponds

12″ x 12″

2023

Collecting muddy artifacts can mean taking along guests without knowing. These little guys found their way into the organic matter caught in wrappers and bottles. They are so special, they need to Tell your story: Draw a picture. Write a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a poem, or a story. -Who are these little guys? Do they have names? How do they like it outside the park? Where did they live before? -What do you notice when they are in focus?

Harder to Breathe

glass bottles, aluminum cans, rope from Elm Park mere ponds, chicken wire, and soft flex bead wire, found snow shovel, concrete

24″ x 60″

2023

I floated up to this inhaler in the park, with chewed edges and gashes all over it. I wondered if it was lost or if it wasn’t good anymore. Wouldn’t it be hard to breathe without it? Tell your story: Draw a picture. Write a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a poem, or a story. -Who might wear this item. Who are they? Do they need their inhaler? What stories are in the marks and chewed edges? -How long was it in the park? How do you think it got into the Elm Park Mere Ponds? Intentional or mistake?

Lighter Knight

glass bottles and aluminum cans found in Elm Park’s mere ponds, copper wire, salvaged chicken wire

18″ x 22″

2023

As I created these replicas of three of the twelve lighters I found in the park ponds, I imagined myself as a knight in shining armor coming to illuminate lighter litter. Tell your story: Draw a picture. Write a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a poem, or a story. -Picture who might wear this item. Who are they? What do they look like? What tales do they tell about epic battles in not-so-far-off places? What is the place that they live in look like? -How do you think these lighters got into the Elm Park Mere Ponds? Intentional or mistake?

Mere Pond Mud Pie Stand

Elm Park mud, glass bottles from Elm Park mere ponds, concrete

9″ x 20″ x 20″

2019-2023

I have always wanted to make mud pies. In 2019 I did, in Elm Park. I am on my way to starting a mud pie company. Tell your story: Draw a picture. Write a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a poem, or a story. -Picture who might work at a mudpie company. Who are they? What flavors do mud pies have? What does a mud pie bakery look like? -How would you serve your mud pie?

Kate Egnaczak

Culotte Gown, Collection Clothes

graphite on marker paper

8″ x 10″

2022

How do we quantify the human impact on a place? The “Collection Clothes” is a series of conceptual garments created for the collection and categorization of trash and other debris found on walking surfaces. Designed to complement and maximize walking as artistic practice, “Culotte Gown” is the first in a series of work clothes visually mending denim segments to elongated vinyl pockets. The garment’s ultra-wide fluted leg design incorporates varying elongated see-through pockets, a detachable train, and a fanny pack to add capacity. Imagine the artist cloaked in this, moving down a road or sidewalk, collecting artifacts of human consumerism.

@train_by_Living, FB Kate Egnaczak

Kate Egnaczak

McMud Meal (Park Picinic)

Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl Matt Siber, McDonalds

debris found in Elm Park’s mere ponds: styrofoam take-out container, McDonald’s cup, lid, and straw, bottle safety ring, waxed bag, single use shopping bags, caution tape, dirty, and leaf litter, mud burger made with Elm Park mud

12″ x 12″ x 12″

2024

One all-mud patty, special “sauce”, lettuce, cheese, tomato, served on a plastic bun, with caution tape fries, and an extra large dirt drink. The “extra value” in this recognizable fast food meal is an abrupt reminder of the consumerism that motivates our tastebuds, yet are as nutrient-deficient as mud and trash it is made from. The mud burger patty, baked in the sun, may have the highest nutrient content. It’s absurd, yet so close to reality. Ubiquitous, almost ceremonial, vessels in the grab-and-go culture, still muddy from the mere ponds in Elm Park, inspired the culinary creation.

@train_by_living