Whether with yarn, a garden hose, or guts, Krista Dedrick-Lai is tracing threads across psychological and geographic terrains. Living in South Philadelphia with her partner and son, Krista maintains a practice that flows from her domestic life, her relationships, and her inner dialogue about the hope and despair of the present and future. In her studio, the artist has multiple stations that allow her to work in various ways: painting, drawing, sewing, and weaving. “My brain can’t always access the same things every day,” she says, “so having these different stations is key.” Weaving, for example, does not require grandiose decisions from its maker like a large-scale painting might; Rather, it carves out a space for contemplation and offers a methodical way forward.

At one station, Krista is weaving threads of found materials together—torn textiles, strips of birthday balloons, and crocheted blankets, to name a few. Excitedly, she describes an old garden hose she hopes to weave into a much larger piece. She acquires these materials from her day-to-day life and on walks with her son where they collect a myriad of discarded items in their neighborhood. You might call it litter, but Krista and her son call them treasures. The practice of treasure collecting with her son is rooted in the artist’s fear of an increasingly broken world. Through these walks, Krista faces her frustration with the world she is sending him into, inventing a radical joy as she experiences her child’s pure wonder at this domestic residue. Like many children, he finds a thrill in found bottle caps, broken barrettes, beads, and other discarded debris. “[He] is the best at finding stuff I would never notice,” she said as we dug through her bin of goodies. “To him, they’re diamonds and rubies. Every time we’re out, he finds a couple things and puts them right in my pockets.”

In response, Dedrick-Lai has constructed fiber sculptures from discarded textiles, adding chunkily sewn pockets that contain these found objects. Many of the textiles are towels, old robes, or undergarments, referencing their former role as features of a domestic life. Employing a purposeful clumsiness with these sewn constructions, Krista points to the pervasive and universal struggles of motherhood, domesticity, and mental health. Preparing for an exhibit at Da Vinci Art Alliance, she will cover an entire wall with these sculptures. Every piece will contain pockets for viewers to interact with, finding treasures to sort or displace. Through physical engagement with the work, viewers will be challenged to consider their own consumption of materials and carbon footprint, while also experiencing an innocent curiosity in the objects themselves. We can easily view this bleak addition to the landscape as it is: humans trashing the planet. But can we simultaneously forge a radical hope and allow children (or even ourselves) to find beauty in it?

Dedrick-Lai continues to grapple with humans’ relationship to the planet in her paintings. “I’m interested in landscapes that become more like bodies and bodies that become more like landscapes,” said Krista, as she unrolled a large-scale painting for me. I couldn’t help but crouch—I was pulled into the landscape laying on the floor. It had a thick darkness to it, but also contained quick flashes of neon. In the top center is a knitting figure who almost fades into the background—comprised of looping lines, she is knitting herself into existence. On the bottom, a second figure lays on her side, entrails spilling out onto the ground: the epitome of vulnerability. To the left, a standing figure is outlined and the landscape is coming through her body—she is constructing or disassembling the surrounding forest. One dense stroke often conveys one finger, and this same type of stroke might be a tree branch in the next mark. Taking ephemeral and vast spaces, Krista makes them dense and fleshly with chunky brushstrokes and honest painterly application, blurring the line between body and environment.

The various bodies of work created at each station might feel different to viewers, but Dedrick-Lai trusts the organic dialogue that emerges between them. The textile sculptures and woven pieces reference the landscape in which Krista lives, posing the same questions found in her paintings. Through blurred perceptions of landscape and figuration and interactions with domestic residue, these paintings and sculptures negotiate our ties to the earth, and confront paradoxes of optimism and hopelessness.

To learn more about Krista’s work, visit KristaDedrickLai.com and follow her instagram @Krista_Dedrick_Lai.