Our Human Remains, 2025

Our Human Remains translates U.S. plastic waste export data into a series of static visualizations. Each panel represents a year’s exports, stratified into four chemical subcategories: ethylene, styrene, vinyl chloride, and nesoi (not elsewhere specified or included).

Plotted using a drawing machine and permanent marker on repurposed scrap acrylic, these forms float above white wooden panels, casting shifting colored shadows. The varying size and condition of the acrylic reflect its origin as industrial residue, embedding the material realities of waste directly into the work.

 
 
 

Our Human Remains was first presented at Young’s solo exhibition “Manifest Density” at the Deep Space Drive-In in Denver CO.