The Red, White, and Carlisle Blue, 2023

Printed Flag on Nylon

Milvus Artistic Research Center (MARC)'s Upplysa included the enlivening of three flagpoles flanking the entrance to the factory. Artists were invited to compose flags of our own, which flew for the town to see.

"For Upplysa, Praestgaard has created The Red, White & Carlisle Blue (2023). The artwork features an aerial view of rows upon rows of muscle cars, arranged by color to form an American flag and layered over a cloudy sky. Looking down is looking up is looking across the Atlantic; the liquid surface suggests that 'allegiance' is a slippery conceit. For Praestgaard, the work is personal; her hometown – Carlisle, Pennsylvania-is home to the world's largest Corvette car show." - Alex Fisher, Curator

I Know it Because I Passed Through, 2019

Inkjet prints, photos from the dump, my mother’s photos, Google Maps, found glass panels, acrylic medium

In the 2019 installation that serves as the foundation for my practice and compass for future works, I know it Because I Passed Through, I magnified, examined, degraded, re-printed, and rephotographed material from discarded family albums found in a Philadelphia dump, my mother’s and grandparents’ photographs of my childhood, and my own screenshots from Google Maps. The installation approximated my experience within and away from a town – an artery in a cluster of interstates, proud home to the Corvette Show and a good many Amazon jobs. 

First Flag of the Corvettes at Carlisle Car Show, 2023

Printed nylon fabric, polyester thread, zip ties. 20x36"

On some years at the Corvettes at Carlisle Car Show, there is an aerially photographed display of an American Flag made of red, white, and blue Corvettes. First Flag imagines a flag display made up of 1953 C1 Corvettes in the style of Betsy Ross's design.

Notes From Strangers, 2018

Inkjet prints of 4-color Risograph prints of photos taken in a shared apartment