Cornered is a mixed media sculpture by acclaimed visual artist Jessica Stockholder. The piece belongs to Stockholder’s long-running series of sculptures and installations that incorporate found consumer waste as an aesthetic medium.

Stockholder’s work is essentially abstract, and yet the meanings embedded within her materials bring political concerns starkly to the forefront of the work. In this piece, we might wile away the moments contemplating the relationships between colors and shapes, or admiring the textural qualities of the work—evident distractions from the reality that our visual environment (an natural environment, as suggested here by a strip of tree bark) is strewn with items such as these tent spikes or other plastic waste and consumer garbage.

As with all of Stockholder’s work, this sculpture is conceived to awaken our perception of our visual environment, while challenging our assumptions about systems of connection and reliance.