Cynthia Scott’s work has consistently used recycled materials to address the human relationship to capitalism and the natural environment in Louisiana. The format of a totem is prevalent in her suspended sculptures, which often incorporate found metal objects, items of utility, plastic baskets and synthetic pop-cultural ephemera.

Chandeleur (The Fishers) is a mobile assemblage and part of a series of four sculptures that critique the fossil fuel industry while referencing a common architectural element: the suspended chandelier, typical of Victorian homes and New Orleans’ shotgun houses. As with a traditional chandelier, the design of each sculpture includes prisms that dangle below a main body. In Chandeleur (The Fishers), most of the sculpture’s body is comprised from the metal of household objects: lampshades, plant hangers and an oscillating electrical fan. The prisms in this piece take the form of wireframe handmade boats that the artist built with soldered metal and wrapped with aluminum wire, which is found throughout the sculpture.

Works in this series geographically reference the nearby Chandeleur Islands, a chain of uninhabited barrier islands on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and site of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge which protects birds and other creatures that are important for biodiversity and ecological balance. Inspired in part by the devastation caused by the BP oil spill, the series Chandeleur began in 2010. Chandeleur (The Fishers) was second in the series, after Chandeleur (Fighter) was sold to a private collector in Texas.

Artist statement for Chandeleur (The Fishers):
The Chandeleur Islands were Ground Zero for the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill. To what length will we go to extract this substance from the earth? The fishing industry on the Gulf Coast, which has sustained families for generations, has been decimated – not only by leaking oil, but by the dispersant used (Corexit).

Artist statement for the Chandeleur series:
Already threatened by rising Gulf waters, the Chandeleur Islands were essentially Ground Zero for the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In this series of works, the word has been used as punning metaphor for the type of ornate hanging lights found in old Louisiana homes, but the materials used hint at the cause and effect of our ceaseless dependence on fossil fuels. The prisms that hang decorously from a traditional chandelièr have been replaced in each piece by items specific to its theme.

Chandeleur (The Fishers). Salvaged objects, string, handmade boats.
The entire fishing industry was decimated by the oil spill and continues to suffer. Generations of fisher families have lost their livelihood. The residual oil and Corexit (dispersant) continue to affect oyster and shrimp beds, and long-term health effects on sea life and humans are unknown.

Chandeleur (The Fighters). Petroleum products, cable ties, India ink, toy soldiers.
Whenever there is an oil crisis, there is a belief among some people in our country that we have the right to take oil from sovereign nations by force.

Chandeleur (The Farmers). Salvaged metal, plant roots, hematite.
When oil washes into freshwater marshes used for irrigation, crops are affected.

Chandeleur (The Funseekers). Salvaged metal, petroleum products (beach toys), tar balls (FIMO and sand).
Almost immediately after the oil spill and quick “clean-up,” we were bombarded with TV ads inviting us back to the beaches. Although the beaches appeared to be as before, tar balls were omnipresent underfoot and clinging to shells.

Already threatened by rising Gulf waters, the Chandeleur Islands were essentially Ground Zero for the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In this series of works, the word has been used as punning metaphor for the type of ornate hanging lights found in old Louisiana homes, but the materials used hint at the cause and effect of our ceaseless dependence on fossil fuels. The prisms that hang decorously from a traditional chandelièr have been replaced in each piece by items specific to its theme.

Chandeleur (The Fishers). Salvaged objects, string, handmade boats.The entire fishing industry was decimated by the oil spill and continues to suffer. Generations of fisher families have lost their livelihood. The residual oil and Corexit (dispersant) continue to affect oyster and shrimp beds, and long-term health effects on sea life and humans are unknown.
Chandeleur (The Fighters). Petroleum products, cable ties, India ink, toy soldiers. Whenever there is an oil crisis, there is a belief among some people in our country that we have the right to take oil from sovereign nations by force.
Chandeleur (The Farmers). Salvaged metal, plant roots, hematite. When oil washes into freshwater marshes used for irrigation, crops are affected.
Chandeleur (The Funseekers). Salvaged metal, petroleum products (beach toys), tar balls (FIMO and sand). Almost immediately after the oil spill and quick “clean-up,” we were bombarded with TV ads inviting us back to the beaches. Although the beaches appeared to be as before, tar balls were omnipresent underfoot and clinging to shells.

To what length will we go to extract this substance from the earth? The fishing industry on the Gulf Coast, which has sustained families for generations, has been decimated – not only by leaking oil, but by the dispersant used (Corexit).

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

• Metamorphoses: Highlights from the Permanent Collection , 7/25/2022 - 12/19/2022

This object is a member of the following portfolios: