visual of recycled plastic and the finished piece of artwork

Multi Media and Recycled Art in My Work

The act of recycling materials into works of art is an act of transformation. It is alchemy to transform discarded materials into beauty by re using said materials to create art. The possibilities are endless when ones eyes choose to see them.

After attending a creativity workshop on weaving with melted plastic bags in the summer 2014, I was inspired to incorporate melted plastic bags into my acrylic paintings. The first painting from this process is The Embrace. Collecting bags of every color has led to the creation of many mixed media art works. In 2017 I realized that I could use the plastic wrappers found around menstrual products. Its a lot of fun to name the artworks since I use a word or words from the product packaging such as the very first piece which is titles Always Radiant & Carefree.

Kintsugi-Betsu-Clay on acrylic background over canvas. The gold pieces signify a face in shatters, and calm expressionAn example of creating with new and old materials is my piece titled, Grace. Going through old and used canvases that I had collected in my studio, I found one that I began to rip in order to re canvas. As I ripped it I began to see a pattern in the ripped strips. The thought came to me to use string to gather the floppy strips and within an hour the art piece Grace had begun. Divine directions how I describe the process of making this art piece. I then painted it all with white gesso. Throughout the creative process the word grace had been on my mind. I see grace as a spiritual gift where the divine comes into that which is broken and rearranges it into a new creation.

Being fascinated by the theme of redemption I have great interest in the Japanese art practice of Kintsugi also known as Kintsukuroi where gold is poured into the cracks of broken pottery to enhance the broken and convert it into beauty. I create faces out of a clay and after it dries I break the clay face (see photo). The broken face pieces are then glued to a canvas or canvas board. The color scheme is always a Sienna brown and gold.