Margaret Craig

San Antonio, Texas

“My intent is to create work that will engender thought about the relationship between humans and their surroundings. Underlying imagery for me is about other worlds, and the portals between; worlds under the microscope or among the stars, drains, conduits and black holes.”

Margaret Craig’s degree in Biology has been a major influence in the aesthetic and ecological context of her work. With an absolute message about protecting the planet, Craig asks us to contemplate the ways that humans affect the environment. By doing so, she hopes that we will consider what humans of the past have left behind, and how we can create a better future by changing our habits.

Craig’s otherworldly sculptures look like something we might see under the ocean, or under a microscope. Her delicate sculptures and wearable “creatures” are created from repurposed plastic trash. With them, she imagines a future in which aquatic evolutions arise from the plastic trash in the oceans. Her recent work addresses the bleached reef—a leading cause of climate change—with the pale coloration intended to evoke this devastated environment. By creating works made from repurposed plastics, Craig uses the medium as the message: recycle, reuse, and conserve.

Murano Critter Alternative Evolution, 2021

Cast acrylic etching, repurposed plastic light, mixed media

Courtesy of the artist

San Antonio, Texas

Alternative Evolution Creature, 2020

Cast acrylic etching, repurposed plastic light, mixed media

Courtesy of the artist

San Antonio, Texas

(top to bottom)

The Albatross, Highline NYC, 2018

The Albatross, Highline (detail), 2018

Performance documentation photographs

Courtesy of the artist

San Antonio, Texas

The Albatross, Vegas, 2018

Performance documentation photograph

Courtesy of the artist