Twyla Exner

Things + Plastic extend the Things series by incorporating discarded plastic containers alongside woven telecommunications wire. Recovered bottles and plastic packaging become structural elements within the sculptures, surrounded by hand-woven wire forms made from post-consumer telephone cables and copper wires.

As landline infrastructure was abandoned with the rise of wireless communication, these colourful wires became a new material for weaving. Each cable is prepared by removing its outer casing and separating the individual strands before being woven by hand. In these works, the woven wire grows around and through plastic containers, transforming everyday waste into organic, creature-like forms.

Inspired by coral formations, fungi, seed pods, and sea creatures, the sculptures combine technological debris with references to living systems. The clear plastic volumes resemble protective shells or habitats, while the woven wires spread across their surfaces like growth or encrustation.

Through slow, labour-intensive processes, these works reconsider materials designed for convenience and disposability. By combining plastic waste with obsolete telecommunications wire, the sculptures imagine discarded technological materials taking on new forms of presence and vitality.