The Time For Denial Is Over

About this event

Nicole Chochrek brings 10,000–30,000 pieces of collected plastic and more than 100 community contributors to Context Collective

TROY, NY | October 2026 — Context Collective is pleased to present The Time for Denial Is Over, a new exhibition by artist Nicole Chochrek, on view October 23 through November 21, 2026 at 95 4th Street in Troy, New York. An opening reception will be held Friday, October 23 from 6–9pm.

The exhibition brings together an estimated 10,000–30,000 pieces of plastic collected from the environment, transforming a material that is often overlooked into the central subject of a large-scale, community-based installation.

Chochrek has been collecting and creatively exhibiting environmental plastic since 2022, working with micro-plastic recycling bins to gather material from the places and communities around her. For The Time for Denial Is Over, that collection expands beyond the artist's own practice. More than 100 community members have contributed to the installation, making the exhibition a collaborative reflection on the sheer volume of plastic that surrounds us.

Rather than presenting plastic as an abstract environmental problem, Chochrek's work asks viewers to confront its physical presence. Each piece represents something that was discarded, left behind, or carried into the environment, bringing the scale of plastic pollution into a space where it can be seen, considered, and discussed.

The exhibition is presented in partnership with NATURE Lab, The Sanctuary for Independent Media, RPI, and Broken Plastics, bringing together artistic, community, scientific, and interdisciplinary perspectives. Throughout the exhibition, opportunities for local participation and engagement will invite visitors to consider their own relationship to plastic and the environments in which it persists.

"The Time for Denial Is Over is an opportunity to look directly at something that is very easy to ignore," says Chochrek. "By collecting and transforming these materials, I want to create a space where we can see the scale of what surrounds us and consider what our relationship to it might be."

For Context Collective, the exhibition continues its commitment to creating space for artists whose work connects contemporary art with community engagement, experimentation, and broader social and environmental conversations.