Sense of Place/Sense of Belonging + A Hard Hat’s Power of Protection and Expression
Evan Blackwell
South County Recycling & Transfer Station
Ceramic installations explore transformation through ecology and construction.
Evan Blackwell served as artist-in-residence at the South County Recycling & Transfer Station (SCRTS) for more than five years, developing a body of work shaped by sustained engagement with the site’s ecology, its construction, and the people who built it.
For Sense of Place / Sense of Belonging, Blackwell gathered plant species found on and around the SCRTS property, including cedar, maple, Douglas fir, alder, salal, trillium, Oregon grape, thimbleberry, and evergreen huckleberry. The plants were dried, dipped in porcelain, and fired onto cobalt-coated ceramic discs, where they appear as delicate white silhouettes against dark surfaces. Below the discs, carved red alder “rock” forms made from trees removed during construction evoke ecological change, growth, and renewal.
A Hard Hat’s Power of Protection and Expression emerged from his relationships with the crews who built the facility. Using ceramic slip-casting techniques, he transformed the ubiquitous hard hat into sculptural objects layered with imagery sourced from project and partner logos, design and construction drawings, and site documentation. Inspired by the stickers, markings, and personal touches often found on workers' hard hats, the series recognizes these everyday objects as symbols of protection, identity, and personal expression.
Beyond the artworks themselves, the residency invited community participation through partnerships with Dirt Corps and Auburn Kids Day. Participants relocated saplings from the construction site, created plant-based cyanotypes, and told their own stories by decorating hard hats. These experiences extended the residency's themes of stewardship, ecology, and transformation beyond the facility itself.
Together, the art and engagement activities reveal the intertwined processes of ecological and human transformation that have shaped—and will continue to shape—SCRTS.
Blackwell is a visual artist whose work explores ecology, material transformation, and cycles of growth, decay, and renewal. He received a BFA from Alfred University and an MFA from the University of Washington, and teaches at The Evergreen State College. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in public and private collections, including the City of Seattle, Harborview Medical Center, and the Washington State Public Art Collection.
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South County Recycling & Transfer Station
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