The Avalanche

2024

63 x 17 x 11 inches

1:12 scale miniature

Foam, thermoplastic, wood, fabric, paper

The Avalanche represents overconsumption within the context of an upscale New York City apartment hallway. The sculpted trash bag exterior serves as a pointed commentary on the absurdity and excessiveness of luxury fashion, particularly exemplified by Balenciaga's $1,850 handbag of the same shape. By replicating a common trash bag, Kelly highlights the irony of the high fashion industry's tendency to elevate mundane objects to symbols of luxury. The centerpiece of the sculpture is a cascading avalanche of high-end clothing, shoes, and bags spilling out of a closet visually representing the chaos of materialism and shopping addiction. Despite their wealth, affluent individuals can also struggle with compulsive hoarding disorder due to emotional attachments to possessions, compulsive buying, and pressure to maintain a certain lifestyle.