WCA/NH Reimagine at Silver Center

Dimensions: 20 x 12 x 2
Artist Statement: All of my art is entirely or partially made from objects found on the ground outside, at the local transfer station swap shop, thrift stores, yard sales and the like. I feel compelled to create, and love to challenge myself to use what is available to me for free! If a piece isn't working, I just need to happen upon the object that inspires its completion ! I feel best making art with what is at hand. The imagery and messages I present aim to urge people to think creatively about "junk" and "trash."

Dimensions: 24 x 1 x 1
Artist Statement: I am a flame work bead maker. A friend had a long necklace of dyed oyster shells that she no longer wanted. I saw several ways to reimagine her necklace combining it with my own flame work beads and beautiful African Silver Beads that I had brought back from South Africa. Her recycled necklace became two statement necklaces and two pairs of earrings. I frequently look for ways to recycle and reuse my beads in new ways. Most recently using them to create a variety of key chains, or used to decorate pie and cheese cutters.

Dimensions: 18 x 22 x 1
Artist Statement: Collage artists repurpose scraps and use materials at hand as much as possible. We are recyclers by nature. Often a small scrap of something becomes the pièce de résistance—much like the rusted washer in Moons of Chaos with the mysterious dial at its center. What is it? Could it be a visual metaphor? Has time run out for our planet? Does the blind-folded head ignoring global warning become a metaphor for the belief that the climate crisis is not real? Denial is perhaps more damaging than just ignoring the problem.

Dimensions: 27 x 21
Artist Statement: I have been a photographer, but lately I have become enthralled with mixed media projects. It is most captivating to me, because it allows me to play with the juxtaposition of found objects. Often, I can use my photograph as the central focus point. I like to play with the juxtaposition of found objects, often focusing on my photo.

Dimensions: 19 x 14
Artist Statement: I have been a photographer, but lately I have become enthralled with mixed media projects. It is most captivating to me, because it allows me to play with the juxtaposition of found objects. Often, I can use my photograph as the central focus point. I like to play with the juxtaposition of found objects, often focusing on my photo.

Dimensions: 24 x 12 x 12
Artist Statement: This is a recycled piece, from the lamp to the foam packaging material to the papers and plastics used in image making. The plight of the right whale relies on our developing new practices and eliminating the waste we deposit in our oceans. The story is told in sequential frames of styrofoam that was packing material.

Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 1.5
Artist Statement: This painting was done eight years ago. Since that time the Brook has changed in many ways. Dramatic rainfalls have diminished the evergreens who had lined thickly the brook’s edge. The climate in this area has dramatically changed. The temperature now averages 38f in December well below freezing. In a way, paintings in the last decade are an historical record of change. I would like to show with this painting a photo taken on the same date this year which shows the area devoid of snow or ice.

Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 2
Artist Statement: Erasing the Past, was a study done for a collaboration with poet Todd Hearon, who had written an epic poem on the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. The piece combines the elements of life before the destruction of five towns and the subsequent story of their erasure. This piece of history was repeated throughout many communities across the country as the need for water resources rose dramatically in the early twentieth century. So too, the cost to many lives forever. Population growth is always has contradictory values.

Dimensions: 31 x 26 x 1
Artist Statement: Six years ago, in preparation to teach printmaking class at Great Bay Community College, I began saving textural items for my students’ use. In a very short time, I was overrun with plastic mesh bags that had come into my kitchen along with onions, oranges, limes and other food items. Other waste included bird netting, burlap, embroidery threads, long forgotten textiles. When the class ended, I began a series of 36 large prints from the trash and other detritus glued to a substrate, inked and printed on an etching press. Monolith is the final print in the series.

Dimensions: 20 x 22 x 1
Artist Statement: This monotype is printed on used building material called a barrier wrap. The interesting basketweave texture is unique to this material and it prints well. Artists are using many types of old building materials in their work including recycled packaging to make printmaking plates. The happy accidents you attain in using various found materials can be very rewarding.

Dimensions: 8 x 10 x 2
Artist Statement: Serentity by Linn Stilwell I am a watermedia artist and as such I think the whole world of postconsumer material is open for me to use in artwork. In this artwork you will find sari silk that brings its vibrance to play alongside used dryer sheets with splashes of watercolor and ink to tone the white surface. I reused end pieces from drawing and painting papers cut down to size to create more of the owl’s personal landscape. I also used this paper to cut out a second owl, paint it and bend it to the posture of the painted owl. Finally I have employed Scherenschnitte to end cuts of copy paper to show emerging plants. The whole painting is composed on a piece of 100% cotton rag paper that was left over from another painting. And there you have it – postconsumer and post artwork all pulled together to create Serenity.

Dimensions: 8 x 10 x 1
Artist Statement: As a portrait photographer, I control elements of a portrait to match my vision in my digital work. In the historic wet-plate collodion method, I am used to unexpected results on occasion. It is liberating. It reminds me to play. These pieces are a product of that freedom to play. They are the oddities, plates that did not get sent home with someone. There is a gravity to tintype photography. They can be serious, even solemn. Adding bits of metal, feathers, and other surprising things rescues them. They get to be fun again.

Dimensions: 5 x 7 x 1
Artist Statement: As a portrait photographer, I control elements of a portrait to match my vision in my digital work. In the historic wet-plate collodion method, I am used to unexpected results on occasion. It is liberating. It reminds me to play. These pieces are a product of that freedom to play. They are the oddities, plates that did not get sent home with someone. There is a gravity to tintype photography. They can be serious, even solemn. Adding bits of metal, feathers, and other surprising things rescues them. They get to be fun again.

Dimensions: 30 x 24 x 1.25
Artist Statement: "Easy Kind of Feeling" was born out of a desire to create serene stillness. As a September baby, I naturally love Autumn, and I adore birch trees. I was inspired to play with colors in this way after seeing a painting by Wolf Kahn for the first time. I challenged myself to see in ways that weren't immediately natural to me. I created this needle felted work of art with recycled "waste" wool on an old wool blend blanket. I stretched the image over an old wooden picture frame I found without glass. The art is made entirely of upcycled goods.

Dimensions: 16.5 x 17.5 x 1
Artist Statement: "Dawn Awakes" is a wool painting needle felted onto an upcycled blanket and then stretched over a recycled wooden frame. The wool used was recycled from mill end scraps. The orbs seen dancing through the forest serve the purpose of distributing peace across the lands.

Dimensions: 9 x 9
Artist Statement: This piece is done a piece of old print paper with acrylic paint, markers, graphite and crayons I found in a drawer of old, broken and worn out art supplies. These supplies were offered another chance to shine.

Dimensions: 57 x 10.5 x 3
Artist Statement: I am a magpie searching for interesting shiny objects. My mosaics are based on the ornamentation of items used in everyday life (clocks, table tops, mirrors, trays, etc.) The mosaics/collage are put together with found objects/paper giving these pieces a second life and perspective even if it is only to the memory of the user/viewer. I have integrated jewelry and other objects of meaning to the user. I want my work to amuse the user/viewer with memories or a fun new way to see an object. I am inspired by art deco lines and the spacial placement

Dimensions: 18 x 16 x 2
Artist Statement: I am a magpie searching for interesting shiny objects. My mosaics are based on the ornamentation of items in everyday life (clocks, table tops, mirrors, etc.) The mosaics are put together with found objects giving these pieces a second life and perspective even if it is only to the memory of the viewer. I have integrated jewelry and objects of meaning to the user. I want my work to amuse the user with memories or a fun new way to see an object. I am inspired by art deco lines and the spacial placement of detailed pieces that construct a whole.

Dimensions: 7 x 33
Artist Statement: As someone who used every bit of graphite leads to their nubs, conserved paper, and board for its maximum utilization, and disposed of them environmentally, this is my thought: Our time is ticking... "Counter Clockwise"

Dimensions: 19 x 28
Artist Statement: ...as we struggle to accept that climate change is reality, and all forms of ecological engagements are a matter of protecting our planet for those we love. Thus it is not a... "Waste Of Time"