The cycle of purchasing and consuming can become overwhelming sometimes. There’s a tension between the urge to collect and accumulate and the equally strong desire to purge, de-clutter, and simplify. Two years ago Soesemann began saving ordinary packaging boxes from all the products and food items she used and consumed as a way confronting the quantities of “stuff” she was responsible for on a daily basis.

In advance of her residency at the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program, she asked Nancy Fleming to collect boxes from her friends and colleagues while she simultaneously accumulated boxes in Cleveland, with the idea that an installation would eventually be created to express the conflicting urges to splurge and purge. As a collector-extraordinaire, Fleming was a natural collaborator in this process and project.

Unexpectedly, Soesemann became fascinated with all the boxes of unfamiliar products that had been collected in Roswell. SheI felt like an anthropologist and was drawn into the text and image minutia of the boxes themselves. Just exactly who is this "Little Debbie," and why do cooking instructions on food packages have exactly three steps?

Fleming was drawn to pattern and the bold graphic possibilities of repetition. Many of her works evolved as sculptural objects and cardboard “quilts,” while Soesemann's works reflect a sense of cataloguing and examination of detail. Together, they endeavored to present a body of work that “re-packages” and displays ordinary expendable cardboard boxes in an unexpected light.

This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program and the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art. For more information on these programs, please visit their websites at: www.rair.org and www.roswellamoca.org