Pseudo-Sod Car Cover

The grass in New York grows all by itself. I don’t think I had ever seen fake grass until I moved to California and my neighbor invited me over to see his “new lawn”. New lawn? How? This morning it was a dusty dirt pile inhabited by an obligatory tumbleweed. By dinner time, it was a spectacular lush oasis on which to sit and enjoy a meal. This idea -  manufacturing, manipulating, and controlling your natural surroundings through the addition of non-native flora to create a facade of fertility, fascinated me.

My first apartment after graduate school was in Santa Ana. There was an inch or two of grass in front of the property. The front lawns around me were brown or the grass was protected by a high fence. In this urban desert, In the absence of surrounding green space, I sought to highlight this absurdity around me. 

Using traditional fiber-based practices and craft materials, I created a landscape simulacra. Handmade terrain designed to envelop manmade structures. 

Using “fun-fur” yarns in browns and greens to create the ultimate fecund and environmentally neutral bush. While in residence, I worked in collaboration with the Huntington Beach Art Center and their community to realize this piece. Pseudo-Sod traveled to the Maker Faire in New York and was a part of several car shows.