artist bio

Charity Ridpath grew up above a capped-off landfill. Erosion unearthed years of trash and illegally dumped chemicals until the spaces she played in shut down. With this experience as a creative guide, she wonders how her waste will impact future generations. To connect with this question, she uses single-use and waste plastics to create jewelry inspired by various imagined futures and presently endangered ecosystems.

In 2019 she earned a BFA in Studio Practice with a specialization in Metals from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. She lives and works in Austin, Texas.

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artist statement

For one year, I collected all of the single-use plastic I used to better understand my own footprint. With “Year of Plastic,” I transform this collection into nature-inspired, wearable compositions. I subvert the traditional ideas of jewelry as objects with value and symbols of status by replacing gold and jewels with plastic sculptures.

I like to view these translucent forms as a hologram, a dystopian re-creation of something that no longer exists. It creates a link between the abundance of single-use plastic and nature’s destruction.

The experience of wearing these pieces interrupts our common association of single-use plastic products with disposability. Instead, it highlights the long-lasting impact they have on our environment and ourselves.

media & mentions

Jumping back into an old piece with this one. And to keep with my latest posting theme, it is one of the first successful pieces incorporating layers. This started as an experimental sample. When I make samples, I love to use self-applied restricti
I’m kicking off this week with more work inspired by the layers in sedimentary rock. This necklace comprises layers of single-use plastic, cork, and stainless steel. Each layer is hand-cut. Let me repeat that. 😏I personally hand-cut each lay
Here is a bit of a throwback to one of the last pieces I made in school. It is a bunch of layers of cut plastic from salad/berry/to-go containers held together by a ring of silver. It reminded me of holding a small mountain range in my hands when w
The natural phenomenon that leaves behind layers that vary over time is another visual obsession of mine. The rings in trees, layers of ice from a core sample in the arctic, and sedimentary rock are just a few of my favorite ways these layers show up
This sculptural ring is a part of a series made from bubble wrap and inspired by minerals. I was looking at images of waste plastic building up on the shores of beautiful beaches worldwide. I imagined our trash one day swallowing up every natural thi
Here is the finished version of that necklace in my last reel. If you haven't seen it yet, go give it a look-see! And if you want, it is still available in my shop. I do all my bubblewrap fusing outside. Since it has been non-stop 100+ degrees aroun
Did you know that Basalt Columns are formed when lava cools at a specific speed and contracts, which creates the cracks that form columns? At least, that is how my non-scientist brain understands it. Part of my making process is spending time learnin
So, a fun fact about me: I can’t wear heavy earrings. For whatever reason, I can’t get used to how heavy they feel, and the tugging sensation becomes a full-on distraction until I take them off. That said, I LOVE statement earrings but ha
Do you ever get obsessed with a pattern (or phenomenon, texture color), and it's like a song you can't get out of your head? You want to listen to it repeatedly until you anticipate every chord change? Seeing images of the basalt columns in Ireland's