Artist Statement: ‘Found Objects’ Series

I hate waste. I hate litter. And I love repurposing. That is the heart and soul of this new series.

I take my inspiration from objects found in my West Coast environment, a piece of a destroyed dock that had a cool shape or reclaimed plywood that was used to build a new house and now destined for landfill.  There is a raw beauty in repurposing something that is someone’s trash into a beautiful piece of art. I am influenced heavily by where my material was found and by its original purpose. Shape and texture are central to my work. Usually I impose these artistic elements to express an idea but with this new work I instead respond to the innate qualities of the material. I try and understand what it means to me.

I have spent half my life in the east and half my life out west on the ocean. This has an interesting effect on how I look at things, as the ocean is such a big draw for me. My studio is 50 meters from the ocean and it has a big impact on my work. There is something very reflective about living on the water. It makes you think more, explore more and somehow see things differently than when you are in the city. This work represents that different viewpoint, seeing things as they could be as opposed to what they are. 

By contrast, living in the city provides a whole different context. A 50 year old log on the ocean is a normal occurrence. In the city however, because it is so out of context, it becomes an object of beauty. Being in the city makes me pay more attention to my west coast environment and vice versa. More importantly I pay more attention. I’m struck by the beauty you can find in both environments if you look for it.  

With ‘Ocean’ I loved the shape that the floatation device took on by being bashed around on the rocks. The natural oval was inspiring and the hole in it felt like a window onto the other side. That made me want to explore the highly polished “front side” that the world sees and the crazy fragmented “back side” that maybe isn’t so obvious. The juxtaposition between the external and the internal and the connection between the two as shown through texture and colour intrigued me.

With ‘From the Sea’ I started with a broken off hunk of styrofoam docking that had holes and cracks and crevices in it. I wanted to create something that could have been drug up from the ocean and it became very texture driven. I was fascinated with the texture of a tortoise shell, a conch shell, a clam which somehow led me to a very old trumpet and the beautiful patina it had. Those shapes then seemed to flow together in in this intersecting circle around the hole to the other side. 

Importantly, unlike much of my other work where I push to get the imperfections out, the imperfections in found objects are meant to be an integral part of the piece and actually work to inform the viewer that this was something else before. This is evidenced by the screws and nails still in the reclaimed wood and some of the textures found in the work on pieces pulled from the ocean. 

I remember the summer between grade 11 and 12, I worked as a garbage man for the City of Vancouver. It drove my mother crazy because I was always bringing home things I had found on my route and making something out of them.  

One of the first found objects was a small rice barrel I had found and put drawers and doors on. I turned into a night table. I loved the idea that something that once served one purpose could now serve another. This process of renewal guides the ‘Found Objects’ series.