Why I Work with Upcycled Materials

In the past few years, I’ve found myself oddly categorized as a re-use artist.  This confused me, because I don’t think of myself that way.

That led me to think about why I use the materials that I do.  It’s not just that I use things that I get free or inexpensively.  But why do I use those things?

Why do I have drawers full of buttons, a crate full of piano keys and stacks of cabinet door sample pieces?

I finally figured it out.  It’s the creative constraint.

I really like the creative constraint of going “huh, I have piano keys here, and some embroidery hoops and some old wooden spools.  I wonder how I could put those together?”  (not a random example, that’s in progress!)

I also conceive of an art piece and then go out and get the parts, decide what material it should be made in and then either metalsmith it, metal clay it or assemble it.  Those pieces may take longer to accomplish.

Even the designed piece often contain elements of found objects, like the recently published Button House, the house base for which is from a thrift store.