4642-2016
4642-2016 is a chandelier-like installation created in response to the 4,642 heroin and opioid overdose deaths recorded in Pennsylvania in 2016. Composed of 4,642 clear glassine baggies, each filled with a crystal bead, the work transforms a symbol of drug distribution into a memorial for lives lost.
4642-2016 is a mixed-media chandelier sculpture by Maria Maneos created in response to the 4,642 heroin and opioid overdose deaths recorded in Pennsylvania in 2016. The installation uses 4,642 clear glassine baggies, each filled with a crystal bead, to represent an individual life lost to addiction and overdose.
Suspended from more than 200 hand-strung monofilament lines inside a wooden frame, the sculpture transforms materials associated with drug distribution into a memorial object. From a distance, the work appears delicate and luminous, resembling a chandelier. Up close, the repeated baggies create a visual count of grief, absence, and scale.
The piece was originally created for the Art of Recovery exhibition at Montgomery County Community College’s West Campus Fine Art Gallery in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Through its materials and repetition, 4642-2016 asks viewers to consider the human cost behind overdose statistics and the families, communities, and histories carried by each number.
As overdose deaths continued to rise, the project later developed into 5535-2017, a related sculpture marking the following year’s loss of life in Pennsylvania. Together, the works form an ongoing memorial to the opioid crisis and a visual record of addiction’s impact across the state.
Exhibition
Originally exhibited in Art of Recovery at Montgomery County Community College, West Campus Fine Art Gallery, Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
Materials
Clear glassine baggies, crystal beads, monofilament line, mesh grid, wood frame.
Process
Over 200 hanging lines were hand assembled, each supporting crystal-filled baggies that together total 4,642 units.
As the number of opioid and heroin-related deaths rose in 2017, 4,642 became 5,535. This shift led to the creation of 5535–2017, which was included in the Art of the State exhibition in Harrisburg, where it received First Prize for Sculpture and the Purchase Prize Award. The work is now part of the permanent collection of the The State Museum of Pennsylvania.