3x Gallon . © Christopher Saucedo , 2013 . Courtesy of the artist and LeMieux Galleries , New Orleans .
As Saucedo and his son waded through waist-deep water in order to salvage belongings , he remembered those glasses of Katrina water he encountered in 2005 . Again , Saucedo was physically experiencing water in one of its most tumultuous forms .
Though Sandy didn ’ t impact him as significantly as Katrina , the same water availability issues arose . After Sandy , the Red Cross gave Saucedo and his family blankets . Without any real use for them , he decided to utilize them as canvases for his next project .
“ They gave it to me practically and I didn ’ t need it practically ,” he says . ” I was able to activate it as an artist .” After collecting more Red Cross blankets from friends and neighbors , he began stitching images of fluid containers onto the blankets . The fluid containers are meant to symbolize Saucedo ’ s weight in water . It is a constant reminder to survivors of tragedies and others of the need to assess how much water is needed and how much water is left . After all , Saucedo has seen our inability to prepare for tragedy firsthand , leaving us starving , homeless , and without water .
“ We are not proactive in any way , we are reactive ,” he says .
Today , Saucedo resides in that same residence Sandy hit four years ago . In the garage , in place of murky water , is a studio that houses most of his work . His fascination with water has continued . One of his current projects , Four Quarts = One Gallon , is a spinning mobile reminiscent of what one would find in a baby ’ s crib . The mobile is made of shapes of cups , bottles , and other fluid containers that balance each other . For example , one piece contains four quart-sized cups on one end and a gallon jug on the other .
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