“Over and over again, we wash away waste,” says artist Vaughn Bell, whose FROTH RINSE REFLECT SEND is made up of bars of soap, each with a special stone inside.

Bell was inspired by the ongoing ritual of handwashing and the intimate but overlooked bar of soap that slowly disappears down the drain over time. With FROTH RINSE REFLECT SEND, she created a “moment of noticing” for an act we usually perform almost unconsciously. Each bar of clear glycerin soap contains a small ceramic “stone” inscribed with lines from Janet Norman Knox’s poem “Carbon Shining in Our Faces.” As the soap shrinks with repeated use, the words on the stone become clearer, revealing one of several two-line stanzas, such as “froth hand over hand / rinse you swirl me.” Bell imagined the many hands that would use each bar, in many locations, all connected by the vast wastewater system. Eventually, she knew, all the soap would dissolve, leaving behind the stone as a relic and a reminder of water’s continuous cycle.

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FROTH RINSE REFLECT SEND was part of the Conveyance Project, a series of temporary artworks that engaged the community in a conversation about water quality, environmental stewardship, and the Brightwater system.

Bell’s work focuses on the complexities of human interactions with places, natural forces, and other species. Her practice includes ecological artworks, public art, performance-based and participatory artworks, public art planning and writing, teaching, sculpture, drawings, videos and installations. Her work has been exhibited or installed in Brussels, Buenos Aires, Paris, Germany, Italy, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and elsewhere.

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