WCA/NH Reimagine at Silver Center

Dimensions: 17 x 18
Artist Statement: ...but an inherent personal commitment to foster change, offering us extended opportunities to realize that we are not..."Pressed For Time"...when remembering those who cared to make the world a better place for us! A sustainable life Reimagined through art. Barbara Morse

Dimensions: 14 x 10 x 2.5
Artist Statement: "Reassembled" is composed of pieces of the negative chipboard cutouts from a laser cutting machine that I found in the trash at my local college machine shop. Student projects probably included a 3D model of a grasshopper and a bicycle because parts from those images were present. The chipboard was ugly but possibilities intrigued me, so I created several projects from these pieces. This artwork nestles in a reused wooden box from a food gift; each piece is spray painted then layered with spacers of recycled styrofoam.

Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 2
Artist Statement: During the years of my art therapy practice, I used liquid acrylics in elementary school plastic tubs with"spillproof lids." If the lids were not covered, the acrylic dried out in the tubs forming little bowls if solid color that would pop out if I wiggled the plastic tubs. Similarly, paint that dried around the top of an acrylic tube pulls off with a hole in the middle making a colorful flower of dried paint. Dried paint can be peeled off of any non-porous surface...these I saved in a bowl until they replaced numbers for a studio clock.

Dimensions: 72 x 10 x 0.5
Artist Statement: "No Mistakes, No Failures" is a project reaffirming there is no such thing as failure. Anne McMillan and Dayna Talbot collected discarded art materials from WCANH members to construct weavings from what was deemed failed artwork. The weavings are created in Saori style which is based on the Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi, the acceptance of imperfection. What is woven is perfect as is: broken, repaired warp threads and lumpy selvages. The work is evidence of resiliency in the face of “failure.”

Dimensions: 6 x 8 x 1.5
Artist Statement: I am a collector of found objects: rocks, bones, shells, paper, photos, wood, scraps of metal, and whatever crosses my path and I use these as inspiration and incorporate them in my work. I take photos and paper, then stain, paint, print, dye, and manipulate them binding them into book form, taking something that was once discarded or something from the past and capturing it in a book form reimagining it and giving it new life.

Dimensions: 3 x 15 x 9
Artist Statement: Entirely made of reused or discarded materials, Old encyclopedia pages separated by discarded artwork, bits of leftover linen thread, and book board from other projects. To be able to take something that was once discarded or from the past and capture it in book form is my ultimate goal—reimagining what would have been trash into a treasure.

Dimensions: 32 x 24 x 5
Artist Statement: A return to ideas of traced hands from childhood and ancient human art, and reaching figures that have appeared in my work from time to time over many years. Ideas are not so much recycled as rediscovered and reworked into new ones. Flutter is an acrylic painting on two canvases.

Dimensions: 36 x 24 x 1.5
Artist Statement: A return to ideas of traced hands from childhood and ancient human art, and reaching figures and impossible architectural spaces that have appeared in my work from time to time over many years. Ideas are not so much recycled as rediscovered and reworked into new ones. Using acrylic paint and tissue paper, Higher Still and Higher touches on memories, visions, and dreams.

Dimensions: 16 x 8 x 5
Artist Statement: In my work I like to combine interesting elements from many different past lives in new and unique ways. I particularly like using old objects with patinas that show their age. I find these pieces at yard sales, at the dump, in other people’s trash or discarded along city streets. Even broken, these found objects often have a grace and beauty that many newer pieces lack. When they are arranged in new ways they tell stories that differ from their origins. It is also the ultimate phase in recycling.

Dimensions: 18 x 24 x 2
Artist Statement: This painting was created on a ‘previously owned’ canvas with unwanted paints given to me by a friend.

Dimensions: 18 x 24 x 1.5
Artist Statement: This evening scene has been painted on a used canvas, on a textured surface randomly applied to evoke an image—tis evening scene is what it looked like to me. Both canvas and surface mediums, including paint, were pre-owned.

Dimensions: 150 x 90 x 70
Artist Statement: Winter's Mistress is constructed of a reclaimed vintage dress form, a resale shop petty coat, handmade paper, and forest finds of birchbark, twigs and beech leaves. All items left behind by a human or Mother Nature. The inspiration for the piece came to me on a snowshoe hike when I came upon the collar piece of bark. I imagined a mistress luring our guide off track deep into hemlock groves, crossing rills, plunging down through cedar swamps as he followed her sweet voice the husky sound of beech leaves.

Dimensions: 36 x 32 x 32
Artist Statement: The piece is made from all recycled materials except for the motion activated recorder/player and the thread. These are my personal negatives which I tossed in the trash, but then on second thought decided to make art with. I feared that they might be coated with toxic chemicals. The bottom metal ring is from an old wreath. The top rings and cable assemblies were saved from upside down tomato plant hangers that didn't work very well for tomatoes, but I knew would come in handy some day. And the old memories are recycled too.

Dimensions: 48 x 18 x 12
Artist Statement: The piece is made from all recycled materials except for the thread and the wire. These are my personal negatives which I tossed in the trash, but then on second thought decided to make art with. I feared that they might be coated with toxic chemicals. The thread is embroidery thread left over from a past attempts at cross stitching. Wire I had on hand. Recycled memories from the past.

Dimensions: 5 x 10 x 4
Artist Statement: In my sculptural work I repurpose and deconstruct paintings on paper. I use found objects, old photographs and other ephemera to compete these pieces. As I work in this way I find it both engaging and satisfying as I thoughtfully transform something entirely new from what may have been discarded or forgotten.

Dimensions: 24 x 18 x 1.5
Artist Statement: "Prayer for Peace" was originally a simulated altar piece with a Covid theme that I made in 2020. The work is drawn and painted on the " wrong" side of a used gifted cradled board, with found objects to decorate the frame. The theme is now outdated, although I still love the concept of a visual prayer. I have reworked the painting to speak to my current and constant prayer for world peace. Without peace there is no future to sustain.

Dimensions: 18 x 18 x 1
Artist Statement: This piece is created using a combination of reused cardboard food packaging assembled in a quilt like pattern. I have painted empty baby food jars into the center of the design. My intention is to highlight the ways that we have traditionally reused materials in order to continue sustaining ourselves. Fabrics from worn out items were cut and reassembled into quilts that could be used to give warmth and comfort. I consider the reuse of the packaging materials of our food items to reflect this tradition of taking something that has nourished in one way and creating an object that will nourish in another way. I believe that if we can appreciate the what every item has to offer and build our lives to include what is available to us rather than continue to cosume and discard we will find a deeper connection to what surrounds us.

Dimensions: 18 x 18 x 6
Artist Statement: In my work I like to combine interesting elements from many different past lives in new and unique ways. I particularly like using old objects with patinas that show their age. I find these pieces at yard sales, at the dump, in other people’s trash or discarded along city streets. Even broken, these found objects often have a grace and beauty that many newer pieces lack. When they are arranged in new ways they tell stories that differ from their origins. It is also the ultimate phase in recycling.

Dimensions: 15 x 19 x 2.5
Artist Statement: Everything in my studio 'has potential'. When I was removing dried up paint out of the bottom of a container and putting on the table I 'found' this sculpture. Spontaneity and recognizing that something like dried up paint could be repurposed as a fun sculpture is studio serendipity.

Dimensions: 36 x 60 x 48
Artist Statement: The Nature Regeneration Series reimagines the future of Nature with or without the presence of humanity. In my vision, nature will survive to regenerate a fantastic new world. My work often repurposes cast-off knitted and woolen clothing. Drawing inspiration from nature, I emphasize our interconnectedness by using materials essential for safeguarding our bodies from the natural elements. Through this exploration, I weave a narrative that underscores the connection between humanity and the natural world.