Artist Statement

I have spent over two years collecting trash on the streets, at construction sites, on beaches and around the city and converting that trash into works of art.  This is more than a protest against litter and waste but an effort to make the wasted new again.

“Almost everything around us is at some point perceived  as useful, desirable, or highly valued by each of us.  Those items that we have perceived to be of value eventually become objects no longer needed or desired. “

In my walks around Seattle, I began to discover beautiful objects that were the discards of others.  Beautiful reflectors from vehicle reflector lights, colored plastic bits, discarded balls, jewelry, clothing and the brightly colored food snack packs scattered everywhere I went.

I started collecting trash without really knowing how I would use it.  It sat in my studio in orderly fashion until a concept would come from looking and thinking about these discarded or lost items. Slowly I began to trust my instincts that I would learn from these items and that discovery would add to my breadth as an artist. Throughout my years as an artist, I have tired quickly of specific materials (paint, clay, photographs, nature’s refuse etc).  The street trash has allowed me a freedom to ramble among many materials until I define the concept for each piece of work. Each material has strengths and weakness that help determine how they can be most properly used.

In this process, I also  discovered that the most interesting and satisfying aspect of producing these objects is the fact that it provides me with ‘the hunt’.  The searching, looking, walking, finding, and most importantly, talking with construction crews, and other people that I meet in connection with my gathering. It provides me with a context for the materials I am gathering.

Finding objects that elicit a visceral response has resulted in work that on one hand embodies the tenets I have applied over the past 25 years,  creating works that are aesthetically engaging.  On the other hand, these works have the element of surprise when people realize that my street turtle “painting” is made up of found objects that we tend to overlook everyday.

Each material allows me to blend the materials or to use similar objects alone.  Each different, one from the other.”