Peace Preserved Collage

It was my fifth grade teacher who taught me about environmentalism. In addition to pleading to the mayor of my hometown in a hand-written letter regarding deforestation, I remember driving my family members crazy as I timed the length of their showers to reduce water waste, and following behind them to turn off unused lights everywhere they went. As an adult, I worked to have recycling services added to apartment complexes and employers the like, and I constantly embrace new ways to reduce my carbon footprint. So, it's no surprise that my art focuses on the reduction of consumption and the reuse of discarded items. From broken machines to cut-off wood panels, glass food containers and garbage found in our lake, I attempt to make use of everything that's no longer needed in our household. In fact, my naming convention using cut-out words from magazines started because our 80-something neighbor gave us 17-year old magazines for no apparent reason. Now I collect magazines from various places. After scouring and removing all content helpful to my art, we even use the remaining paper product as kindling in our (formerly discarded) wood stove to heat the studio in winter. My goal is to not only reuse items that have outlasted their original purpose, but to pay homage to the original creations in the process, to make what's old new again, and to breathe life into objects long determined useless. As a graphic designer and photographer, my mixed-media art is an outlet for my creativity in the 3-dimensional world that enables me to combine my skills using a unique and fresh perspective that brings new meaning to the world. I truly hope to inspire others to do the same.