​​​​​​​Susan Evans Grove

Visually, I am inspired by paintings and strive to create photographic work that is painterly. This body of work is created in the style of Dutch still life from the 1600s where a burgeoning middle class announced their wealth by commissioning paintings of opulence. In today’s society we signal our affluence with electronics. Whether by our own design or that of the manufacturers we cannot help but get the latest and greatest. The problem with this is that just as the fruits and fowl go bad in the Dutch paintings, our electronics phase out quickly and then pile high in landfills, creating an environmental catastrophe.

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E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that approximately 50 million metric tons of E-waste enters the landfill each year. It raises concern about air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, information security, and even human exploitation. Americans spent $71 billion on telephone and communication equipment in 2017, nearly five times what they spent in 2010 even when adjusted for inflation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.