Daily Art Fixx - Art Blog: Modern Art, Art History, Painting, Illustration, Photography, Sculpture » Eco-Art

Edouard Martinet: Assemblage Art

Wendy Campbell — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:49:29 +0000

More great pieces from French sculpteur Edouard Martinet. Martinet transforms everyday objects found in flea-markets and car boot sales into works of art. Working with a variety of refuse materials such as rusted kitchen pans, typewriter keys, car lights and other scrap metals, Martinet sculpts several types of animals and insects. His sculptures are made without the use of solder. He fits each component into place as if putting together a puzzle of random pieces and parts. Each piece is carefully assembled after having drafted several detailed sketches.

To see more of Martinet’s work, visit EdouardMartinet.com.

Andrea Petrachi: Cyber Sculptures

Wendy Campbell — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:00:48 +0000

Born in Lecce, Italy in 1975, Andrea Petrachi a.k.a. Himatic creates cyber sculptures from things most of people simply throw away. His work is based on the assembly of everyday items, discarded electronics, gadgets and toys. Himatic sees his work as a symbol of our out-of-control desire to buy things.

Petrachi will be exhibiting at the EU Robot Festival from November 30, 2011 – December 5, 2011 at the Science Museum, London.

To see more, check out AdreaPetrachi.com.

All images © Andrea Petrachi © photo: Giuseppe Fogarizzu

Yong Ho Ji: Recycled Tire Sculpture

Wendy Campbell — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:00:38 +0000

Born in 1978, Korean sculptor Yong Ho Ji has a BFA in sculpture from Hongik University in Seoul, and and MFA in fine art form New York University.

“Meticulously layering cut strips of tire as the flesh for his “mutants,” Yong Ho Ji models his creatures after endangered animals, mythological beings, and humanoids akin to his favorite superheroes. Underlying his unique brand of science fiction monster making is a startlingly specific, poetically lucid, ethical critique of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), based on his skepticism towards those “who seek to challenge nature by creating an entirely new form of life through modifying genes of animals, plants, and human beings.” Scientifically speaking, Ji’s mutants are emblematic of Darwin’s evolutionary theory, which states that mutations may evolve species better adapted to their environments. Some of his mutants inherit handsome traits (long necks or muscular hind quarters), while others inherit the abhorrent traits (multiple heads) typical of Lovecraftian sci-fi imagery.” (Trinie Dalton)

To see more, visit YongHoJi.com.

Shea Hembrey: How I Became 100 Artists – Ted Talks

Wendy Campbell — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:00:55 +0000

(Worth the 16:48 watch time)

How do you stage an international art show with work from 100 different artists? If you’re Shea Hembrey, you invent all of the artists and artwork yourself and hold your own biennial called “Seek” From large-scale outdoor installations to tiny paintings drawn with a single-haired brush, watch this funny, mind-bending talk to see the explosion of creativity and diversity of skills a single artist is capable of.

Shea Hembrey was born in 1974. He grew up on a dirt road in rural Hickory Grove, Arkansas in a family of farmers, factory workers, hunters, trappers, musicians, and cockfighters. He makes art by concentrating on a singular, defined conceptual project where the ideas direct what methods and media he uses. Research is key to all of his creative endeavors while he remains a prolific maker of things.

Though always focused on developing skills on his own, he has a varied formal art education. His nine years of studying art at university include a year spent studying Maori art in New Zealand and an MFA from Cornell University. His studio is currently based in a sleepy town on the Delaware River in New Jersey.

To see more, visit SheaHembry.com and TED.com.

Matt Small: Recognition – Merry Karnowsky Gallery

Wendy Campbell — Sat, 07 May 2011 14:25:40 +0000

UK artist Matt Small is exhibiting for the first time in the US at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles. Recognition is a collection of paintings, drawings, and mixed media, depicting vibrant portraiture of what the artist views as “the marginalized and voiceless in society, those who are socially excluded.” Small portrays those on the fringes of society, drawing attention to those who may be overlooked, challenging prejudices and bringing forward a shared sense of humanity. Merry Karnowsky relates, “not only is he bringing dignity and recognition to individuals who might otherwise go unnoticed in society, but he also makes a societal commentary as an individual by choosing to paint on recycled materials that are often discarded and disregarded in the same manner.”

“His work reflects a remarkable control of fluidity, employing impressionistic techniques with brilliant rainbows of color applied in thick impasto, while maintaining a profound naturalistic clarity. His portraits are on found pieces of wood, metal, and concrete, often combining these materials to construct his own surfaces on which to paint. His current work is largely influenced by his 2010 visit to the Robert Shitima School in Kabwe Village, Zambia, where he worked with SWOON to create art workshops for orphaned children and raise money for the school.”

Recognition runs through May 14, 2011. For more info, visit Merry Karnowsky Gallery. For Matt Small’s previous work, visit Matt-Small.com.

Found on: Arrested Motion, Images by Carlos Gonzales

Scott Marr: Painting/Pyrography

Wendy Campbell — Tue, 03 May 2011 14:07:46 +0000

The latest work from Australian artist Scott Marr. Marr’s new collection continues his unique technique of drawing using pyrography and painting with natural pigments, predominantly from the bush.

By the time Scott Marr sits down at the easel, his works of art are already well underway. A large part of Scott’s artistic practice is comprised of the identification, collection and preparation of an astounding range of natural pigments. His bush pigments are unpredictable by nature, ensuring that each work of art is imbued with a genuine uniqueness. The variable palette reflects the dynamic and seasonal character of the natural world, where no two days or places are the same. Scott says, “Over the past few years, I’ve been experimenting with the extraction and application of natural pigments. I now feel my experimentation has become my applied practice. This confidence together with the discovery of new colours has opened up new dimensions for my art”.

To see more of Marr’s work, visit ScottMarr.blogspot.com or Katoomba Fine Art.

Earth Day 2011: Environmental Artists Making a Difference

Wendy Campbell — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:54:57 +0000

It’s Earth Day everyone – a day established to inspire awareness and appreciation for the earth and our environment. Founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970, Earth day is now celebrated on April 22nd in almost every country around the globe.

In celebration of Earth Day 2011, DAF presents five artists whose work raises awareness about our relationship with the earth and/or use materials and resources in an eco-friendly way to create their art.

First, what is environmental art? According to GreenMuseum.org, eco-art is “in a general sense, it is art that helps improve our relationship with the natural world. Some environmental art:

Informs and interprets nature and its processes, or educates us about environmental problems.
Is concerned with environmental forces and materials, creating artworks affected or powered by wind, water, lightning, even earthquakes.
Re-envisions our relationship to nature, proposing new ways for us to co-exist with our environment.
Reclaims and remediates damaged environments, restoring ecosystems in artistic and often aesthetic ways.

And now the artists:

Lynne Hull has pioneered “trans-species” art, creating sculpture installations as wildlife habitat enhancement, eco-atonement for human impact. She works from the belief that artist creativity can be effectively applied to the urgent situations we face today. Her sculpture and installations provide shelter, food, water or space for wildlife, as eco-atonement for their loss of habitat to human encroachment. Hull’s current projects link communities from Canada to South America through our shared wildlife.

Most of Hull’s artworks function in the temporal gap between the time reclamation of damaged sites begins and the time nature recovers.Her client list includes hawks, eagles, pine martin, osprey, owls, spider monkeys, salmon, butterflies, bees, frogs, toads, newts, bats, beaver, songbirds, otter, rock hyrax, small desert species, waterfowl and occasional humans. Visit Eco-Art.org to learn more.

Scott Marr uses natural pigments collected from the bush and farmlands including ochres, bark, charcoal, sap, flowers, berries, and the medium of fire to burn drawings (pyrography) onto paper and wood. Based on a love for drawing, Marr’s artwork looks into the world of what he calls “bio metamorphics” symbiosis, energy, or the “alchemy of nature”.

In 2008, Marr won a Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize for his work “We Eat What We Are”. “We eat what we are reveals a creature that is made up of elements of its environment – it is both dependent on and crucial to its ecosystem. The title also alludes to the human tendency to diminish ourselves by eating away at the very environments we depend upon.”

To see more of Scott Marr’s work, visit ScottMarr.blogspot.com. You can also watch videos of his process on his YouTube channel.

Jason deCaires Taylor gained international recognition for creating the world’s first underwater sculpture park in Grenada, West Indies. His underwater sculptures, designed to create artificial reefs for marine life to colonise and inhabit, embrace the transformations wrought by ecological processes. The works engage with a vision of the possibilities of a sustainable future, portraying human intervention as positive and affirmative. Drawing on the tradition of figurative imagery, the aim of Jason de Caires Taylor’s work is to address a wide-ranging audience crucial for highlighting environmental issues beyond the confines of the art world. However, fundamental to understanding his work is that it embodies the hope and optimism of a regenerative, transformative Nature.

The sculptures are sited in clear shallow waters to afford easy access by divers, snorkellers and those in glass-bottomed boats. Viewers are invited to discover the beauty of our underwater planet and to appreciate the processes of reef evolution. To see more, visit UnderwaterSculpture.com.

Jean-Paul Ganem’s agricultural compositions are found where art is least expected. One of his notable pieces transformed a dumping ground into a field of dynamic wedges of color. The project site contained human waste, and was punctuated by emission pipes from a gas plant nearby. Together with an army of volunteers Ganem cleaned up the site and turned it into something else entirely.

“The colourful land markings and motifs overlap, with varying circular dimensions and shapes. ‘Le Jardin des Capteurs’ introduces the notion that sites for human waste, the detritus of our urban consumer society, can be recycled and beautified as sites, just as the goods and waste that end up there can be.” To see more, visit JPGanem.com.

Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison: Among the leading pioneers of the eco-art movement, the collaborative team of Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison have worked for almost forty years with biologists, ecologists, architects, urban planners and other artists to initiate collaborative dialogues to uncover ideas and solutions which support biodiversity and community development. The Harrison’s concept of art embraces a breathtaking range of disciplines. They are historians, diplomats, ecologists, investigators, emissaries and art activists.

Past projects have focused on watershed restoration, urban renewal, agriculture and forestry issues among others. The Harrisons’ visionary projects have often led to changes in governmental policy and have expanded dialogue around previously unexplored issues leading to practical implementations throughout the United States and Europe. To see more, visit TheHarrisonStudio.net.

For more information about environmental art, visit GreenMuseum.org. For more about Earth Day, visit Earth Day Network.

Dan Bentley: Assemblage Art

Wendy Campbell — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:00:59 +0000

Born in an army hospital in Shirley, Massachusetts, Dan Bentley learned to walk and talk in Mineral Wells, Texas, and has lived in Rochester, New York since about 1978.

Dan’s “build it himself” style of education landed him at the Rochester Institute of Technology where he studied a mix of Engineering and Fine Arts, resulting in a 35 year career as a product designer.

“Since I was a child I have been fascinated by mechanical bits and pieces and how they go together to create things. My parents came to accept that I would disassemble my toys to see how they worked (and reassemble them). I outgrew my Tinker Toys early and spent lots of time building my own toys from “scratch,” putting various found and scrounged objects together to create the next go-cart or rocket. I grew up during the 1960’s when kids still had wood and metal shop classes in school; that’s where I learned the basics of how things are made and the tools used to manufacture them. My sculptures are the manifestation of the appreciation i have for the products i collect, a labor of love. My mission is to feature the aesthetics of manufactured products in unique sculpture. I collect products that have outlived their original use and recycle them as elements of my art. I strive for my art to pay homage to all product designers by continued appreciation of their talents.”

To see more of Dan Bentley’s work, visit DBentley.com or check out his photostream on Flickr.

ART-O-MAT: Pocket Art

Wendy Campbell — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:00:37 +0000

Many art lovers simply don’t have the budget to purchase original works of art. Enter the Art-O-Mat – re-purposed cigarette vending machines that have been converted to sell pocket size original works of art.

North Carolina artist Clark Whittington created the first Art-O-Mat in 1997 which he showed along side his paintings at a solo show at a local cafe. The machine sold his black & white photographs for $1.00 each. The art show was scheduled to close, however, the owner of the Penny Universitie Gallery, Cynthia Giles, loved the Art-O-Mat and asked that it stay. It remains in its original location to this day. Following the show, the involvement of other artists was necessary for the project to continue. Giles introduced Whittington to other local artists and the group “Artists in Cellophane” was formed.

“Artists in Cellophane (A.I.C.), the sponsoring organization of Art-O-Mat is based on the concept of taking art and “repackaging” it to make it part of our daily lives. The mission of A.I.C. is to encourage art consumption by combining the worlds of art and commerce in an innovative form. A.I.C believes that art should be progressive, yet personal and approachable.”

The Art-O-Mat dispenses original art-works for $5-$7 and may include paintings, photographs, sculpture, collage, illustration, handmade jewellery, textile arts, and more. There are 82 machines in at least 28 American States, one in Quebec, Canada, and one in Vienna, Austria. There are around 400 contributing artists from 10 different countries currently involved in the Art-o-mat project.

For more information, to get involved, or to find an Art-O-Mat near you, visit Art-O-Mat.org.

James Corbett: Car Part Sculptor

Wendy Campbell — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:00:41 +0000

Queensland Australia artist James Corbett began making sculptures from old car parts in 1999 while running an auto recycling business in Brisbane. A year and a half later, he turned to sculpting full time.

Corbett does not bend any of the parts into shape so the unique integrity of each car part is maintained. “The parts themselves are often interesting, some are as much as eighty years old”, says James.

Corbett’s sculptures are in private collections in Australia, England, Switzerland, New Zealand, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S.A.. For more information about James, visit JamesCorbettArt.com.

Aurora Robson: Recycled Art

Wendy Campbell — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:00:10 +0000

Aurora Robson was born in Toronto, Canada in 1972 but grew up in Hawaii and has lived in New York for 20 years. She has a BA in Visual Art & Art History from Columbia University and is a certified structural welder. Robson currently lives and works in Brooklyn with her husband, cinematographer Marshall Coles and daughter Ona.

Robson uses everyday waste such as discarded plastic bottles and junk mail to create intricate sculptures, installations, and collages. Over the years, Robson has intercepted tens of thousands of bottles, saving them from their ultimate destination at the landfill or costly recycling plants. The fate of her junk mail follows a similar path and have now become part of her stunning ink collages.

“Deeply concerned about the natural environment, Robson sees herself as an eco-activist who uses her art to address urgent issues poetically, not polemically. She is best known for assembling cast-off plastic bottles, which she colorfully paints, into wildly inventive hanging sculptures the smaller ones sometimes containing LED lights and large works that fill entire rooms.” (Art in America Magazine Oct. 2009)

In addition to her work as an artist, Robson is Director/Co-founder of Lumenhouse, a photo studio, artist in residence program, exhibition space and community/cultural event space located in Brooklyn. She is also the founding Director of Project Vortex, an international organization of artists, architects and designers working with plastic debris – working with Project Kaisei to reduce the amount of plastic debris littering our oceans and shorelines.

Robson’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows across the United States, and has been featured in magazines such as Art in America, Juxtapoz, Artworld Digest, and the cover of Arts Houston to name a few. Most recently, she was awarded the 2010. The Arthur Levine Foundation Grant.

To see more of Aurora Robson’s work, visit AuroraRobson.com.

Stefan Thompson: Mixed Media

Wendy Campbell — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:30:23 +0000

Canadian artist Stefan Thompson studied environmental science at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario.

“Since studying environmental science, I have become increasingly aware of our impact on the environment. Realizing that as a painter I was still a part of the ecological problem was very difficult. After much experimentation and research I finally phased out the use of all toxic paints by May of 2007, though I still have much to learn. I cannot truly feel at peace if by creating my art I am also harming the environment.”

To see more of Thompson’s work and learn more about non-toxic painting, visit StefanThompson.com or check out his profile on Deviant Art.

Justin Gignac: NYC Garbage Art

Wendy Campbell — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:30:55 +0000

“One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. But New York City’s garbage, well that’s art.” Justin Gignac’s garbage art began as an experiment in package design. Today, NYC Garbage can be found on desks and bookshelves and mantles around the world.

Since around 2002, Gignac has been hand picking trash and arranging it in small plastic cubes that are signed, numbered, and dated. Typical cubes include items such as soda cans, candy wrappers, receipts, event tickets, cigarette butts, coffee cups, newspapers, and parking tickets. In the beginning, Gignac’s cubes sold for $10 to a few intrigued tourists. These days, he has sold over 1,300 cubes in 29 countries for $50 and up.

Found art is not a new idea. Marcel Duchamp coined the term “readymade” to describe his found art in 1915. Since then, found object art has been prevalent in the Dada, Surrealist, and Pop Art movements to name a few. The meaning of found art has expanded over time and now, numerous categories have been defined including assemblage, appropriation, collage, and even Internet based found images that are reworked with computer graphic tools to form new works of art. ⑴

In addition to typical New York City Garbage, Gignac has also produced special edition cubes including opening day at Yankee Stadium, New Year’s Eve in Times Square, Obama’s inauguration, and more.

For more about Justin Gignac, visit NYCgarbage.com.

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Scott Marr: Natural Pigment Pyrography

Wendy Campbell — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:00:55 +0000

Born in 1976 in St Leonards, Sydney, Australia, Scott Marr uses natural pigments collected from the bush and farmlands including ochres, bark, charcoal, sap, flowers, berries, and the medium of fire to burn drawings (pyrography) onto paper and wood. Based on a love for drawing, Marr’s artwork looks into the world of what he calls “bio metamorphics” symbiosis, energy, or the “alchemy of nature”.

In 2008, Marr won a Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize for his work “We Eat What We Are”.

“We eat what we are reveals a creature that is made up of elements of its environment – it is both dependent on and crucial to its ecosystem. The title also alludes to the human tendency to diminish ourselves by eating away at the very environments we depend upon.”

To see more of Scott Marr’s work, visit ScottMarr.blogspot.com. You can also watch videos of his process on his YouTube channel.

Sources: Satchi Gallery, National Archives of Australia

Damon Drummond aka Ultrajunk: Found Object Art

Wendy Campbell — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:00:22 +0000

Damon Drummond aka Ultrajunk is a found object metal artist from Akron, Ohio, USA. His passions are robots, rayguns, lamps, and anything with a vintage science fiction or future Victoran style. From kitchen stove burners, bicycle headlights, old table legs, and other odds and ends, Drummond’s creations depend entirely on his daily finds at the scrap yard.

“I am lucky to live very close to 2 salvage scrap yards which I visit every day and scrounge through piles of salvaged metal and rusty goodness. You would not believe what gets scrapped. There is new junk every day so I never get tired of going there.”

To see more Ultrajunk, visit Damon’s photostream on Flickr.

Sources: Junk Market Style

Art-E-Facts: 5 Random Art Facts XII

Wendy Campbell — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:00:22 +0000

1. Pyrography is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker. It is also known as pokerwork or wood burning. Pyrography means “writing with fire” and is the traditional art of using a heated tip or wire to burn or scorch designs onto natural materials such as wood, leather, paper, etc. The process has been practiced by a number of cultures including the Egyptians and some African tribes since the dawn of recorded time. Pyrography is also a traditional folk art in many European countries, including Romania, Hungary, as well as countries such as Argentina in South America.

2. Fabergé Eggs are a symbol of luxury and the eggs are regarded as masterpieces of the jeweller’s art. The House of Fabergé made thousands of jeweled eggs from 1885 through 1917. The most famous eggs were the larger Imperial Easter Eggs made for Alexander III and Nicholas II of Russia. Fabergé was given complete creative freedom in creating the eggs. The only stipulations were that each egg must be unique and must contain a surprise. The eggs were made with precious metals or hard stones decorated with combinations of enamel and gem stones.

3. Environmental Art is art that helps improve and create awareness about our relationship with the natural world. It may include the use of recycled/ reclaimed materials and resources in an eco-friendly way to create art. It may also interpret nature and its processes, educate us about environmental problems, and show concern about environmental forces and materials. Artists may create artwork that is powered by wind, water, lightning, earthquakes etc. that re-envisions or propose new ways for us to co-exist with our environment. It may reclaim and remediate damaged environments, restoring ecosystems in artistic and aesthetic ways.

4. Pablo Picasso’s full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. He was named after various saints and relatives. The “Picasso” is actually from his mother, Maria Picasso y Lopez. His father is named Jose Ruiz Blasco.

5. Early Art Education teaches children: to be more tolerant and open, promotes individuality, and self-confidence, improves academic performance, helps develop basic mental and physical capabilities, and improves interpersonal communications. Young people who participate in the arts every week are more likely to participate and be recognized in academic activities such as math and science.

Sources: Wikipedia (pyrography), DAF (Faberge), DAF (Environmental Art), Neatorama (Picasso), Olney Elementary Visual Arts

Mirko Siakkou Flodin: Tire Sculpture

Wendy Campbell — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:38:48 +0000

Mirko Siakkou Flodin was born in Dresden, Germany in 1963. From 1980 – 86 he apprenticed with metal artist A. Kühn in Berlin. His works are displayed in public spaces and in private collections around the world.

To see more including Flodin’s metal works, visit Mo-metallkunst.de as well as his Facebook page.

Earth Day 2010: 5 Eco-Artists Making a Difference

Wendy Campbell — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:59:22 +0000

In celebration of Earth Day 2010, I present five artists whose work raises awareness about our relationship with the earth and/or use materials and resources in an eco-friendly way to create their art.

First, what is environmental art? According to GreenMuseum.org, eco-art is “in a general sense, it is art that helps improve our relationship with the natural world. Some environmental art:

Informs and interprets nature and its processes, or educates us about environmental problems.
Is concerned with environmental forces and materials, creating artworks affected or powered by wind, water, lightning, even earthquakes.
Re-envisions our relationship to nature, proposing new ways for us to co-exist with our environment.
Reclaims and remediates damaged environments, restoring ecosystems in artistic and often aesthetic ways.

And now the artists:

1. Sara Hall: Glass Artist - Hall’s recent work in architectural glass focuses on the integration of art and solar technology. Energy that is gathered through the solar cells is used to illuminate both the artwork and its surroundings at night. Hall says, “By forging an image with a source of renewable energy, we create a powerful story about how we can live in this world: It gives us a chance to dream about who we can be.” See more at SaraHallStudio.com.

2. Chris Jordan: Photography/Digital Art - Jordan’s photographs and digital photo compilations depict images of western culture’s consumerism revealing the startling statistics of our daily consumption. He transforms the data about everyday items such as paper cups, cell phones, plastic bottles, and other mass produced goods, and makes large-format, long-zoom artwork. “Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits.” See more at Chris Jordan.com. An inspiring TED talk is featured on Daily Art Fixx here.

3. John Dahlsen: Environmental Assemblage Art – Australian artist Dahlsen creates works of art from the vast quantities of plastic and litter washed up along the Victorian coastline. Dahlsen says, “Making this art has been a way of sharing my messages for the need to care for our environment with a broad audience. I feel that even if just a fraction of the viewing audience were to experience a shift in their awareness and consciousness about the environment and art, through being exposed to this artwork then it would be worth it.” See more at JohnDahlsen.com.

4. Laurie Chetwood: Architecture - Chetwood’s “Urban Oasis” opened on 19th June 2006 as a temporary structure on Clerkenwell Green and is a demonstration of sustainability and renewable energy working. The 12 metre high kinetic structure mimics the design of a growing flower: its photovoltaic “petals” open and close in response to the sun and the moon utilizing daylight to generate power. This is supplemented by a hydrogen fuel cell and wind turbine to make it self-sufficient. It even uses rainwater it has collected for irrigation and cooling. At the base, the Oasis has five “pods” inside which people are secluded from the noisy and polluted city surroundings, enjoying cleaner cooled air and relaxing sounds. See more at Chetwoods.com. See the Oasis in action here on YouTube.

5. Aurora Robson: Sculpture – New York based artist Robson uses everyday waste such as discarded plastic bottles and junk mail to create intricate sculptures, installations, and collages. In the past year, Robson has intercepted about 30,000 bottles, saving them from their ultimate destination at the landfill or costly recycling plants. The fate of her junk mail follows a similar path and have now become part of her stunning ink collages. Robson’s environmentally conscious works grew out of her love and appreciation for nature and from the nightmares she had as a child. Her goal is to “take something inherently negative and transform it into something positive.” Her art is “ultimately about recognizing and embracing new possibilities while encouraging others to do the same.” See more at AuroraRobson.com.

For more information about eco-art, visit GreenMuseum.org. For more about Earth Day, visit Earth Day Network.

Jason de Caires Taylor: Underwater Sculpture

Wendy Campbell — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:49:15 +0000

“Jason deCaires Taylor was born in 1974 to an English father and Guyanese mother, spending the earlier part of his life growing up in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. Educated in South East England, he graduated in 1998 from Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London, with a B.A.Honours in Sculpture and Ceramics. He is also a fully qualified diving instructor, underwater naturalist and award winning underwater photographer, with over 14 years of diving experience in various countries.

In May 2006 he gained international recognition for creating the world’s first underwater sculpture park in Grenada, West Indies. His underwater sculptures, designed to create artificial reefs for marine life to colonise and inhabit, embrace the transformations wrought by ecological processes. The works engage with a vision of the possibilities of a sustainable future, portraying human intervention as positive and affirmative. Drawing on the tradition of figurative imagery, the aim of Jason de Caires Taylor’s work is to address a wide-ranging audience crucial for highlighting environmental issues beyond the confines of the art world. However, fundamental to understanding his work is that it embodies the hope and optimism of a regenerative, transformative Nature.

Jason is currently resident in Mexico as Artistic Director of the new Cancun Underwater Museum.” (bio from artist website)

To see more of de Caires Taylor’s work, visit UnderwaterSculpture.com.

Sayaka Ganz: Sculpture

Wendy Campbell — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:00:41 +0000

Born in Japan and living in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Sayaka Ganz has a BA in printmaking and an MFA in 3D Study with a concentration in sculpture from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

To create her sculptures, Ganz finds discarded objects including plastic utensils, toys, and metal pieces and gives them a second life and a new home..

“The human history behind these objects gives them life in my eyes. My goal is for each object to transcend its origins by being integrated into an animal form that seems alive. This process of reclamation and regeneration is liberating to me as an artist. By building these sculptures I try to understand the human relationships that surround me. It is a way for me to contemplate and remind myself that even if there is conflict right now, there is a way for all the pieces to fit together.”

To see more of Ganz’s work visit SayakaGanz.com.

Sources: This iz Art