Commemorating Waste

Everybody wastes. Every day, we all throw away a few items that don't really deserve it. Lots of items simply occupy a space where something more interesting will soon be stored... a pecking order, of sorts. When I see this happening, I become upset. There is only so much space in a land fill, and it might as well be filled with disgusting, unpleasant things, as opposed to beautiful ones.

This body of work explores the nature of taking something cast aside, literally removing it from the trash can or the dumpster, putting it together with other scraps, and revealing its inner beauty. I haven't the power to create beauty where none existed... that would take talent. But I can show beauty that already exists to a world full of people too busy to stop and spy the dumpster. Smell the dumpster at your own risk.

Each piece in this exhibition has a name which makes a subtle commentary on its origins. In many cases, the compositions are made entirely from scrap. Several of the backings of these works were originally just plywood or particle board, trashed from a construction site, which I carried back to the shop, often over a mile, with neither cart nor automobile. Usually, I just took the lighter pieces.

Consider your good fortune, as you gaze at these works. Once, they were disenfranchised, ignored, completely unloved. Who reading this has never been rejected out-of-hand, just because someone "didn't have the time" to see what was beautiful inside you? I wish I had a good self-effacing high school joke to insert right here.

Now, the rejected woods enjoy the eternal peace and respect of a Shakespearean tragic hero, flawed only in that they can’t just “get with the program.” Their rags-to-riches story gives me hope for everyone. Just don’t expect me to glue you to a piece of plywood.