User:2600:1700:99F0:8C40:D4EC:9D1C:D697:5914/sandbox/Kim Victoria Abeles

Kim Victoria Abeles is an American activist artist who was born in Richmond Heights, Missouri on August 28, 1952. Abeles attended Ohio University where she received her BFA in painting and then earned her MFA in studio art from the University of California, Irvine in 1980. Over the years Abeles has demonstrated her passion to make changes and share knowledge within our environment through her inspiring art. Abeles has also focused on other subjects including feminism, HIV/AIDS, mental health, urban environment, aging, pollution, labor, and collective memory. One enormous project got Abeles the recognition she well deserved: The Smog Collector. The Smog Collector was an invention in which Abeles was able to gather smog, particularly with stencils and adhesives to convert them into specific images. The reason behind this invention was to see the long-term effects of a year-long protest against a factory that was near her home. To get into more specific detail, the fabric was placed on the roof of her studio where they would eventually be smothered in the particulate matter that is in the air. Over time, the fabric is removed and an image made by smog appears. Another great invention: was the Paper person which was made from the California Science Center's paper trash that was collected in a single day. This statue of the paper person remains at the California Science Center and helps send out a message to those visiting to be mindful of their trash.