The Earth Day Origami Project

The Earth Day Origami Project, part of the Butte College 2011 Earth Day Festival, was a continuation of sculptural work I’ve been creating for the past several years utilizing salvaged, reclaimed and recycled materials.

See photos of the finished recycled art piece in the gallery.

Paper is one of the materials I’ve used frequently, often manipulating it by bending, layering, burning or other techniques. I wanted to use paper collected on the Butte College campus to create a sculpture for Earth Day.

The origami aspect of the project resulted from seeing a documentary film called Between the Folds, about the art and science of modern origami practice. Origami seemed like a natural way to manipulate the paper I was using into a sculptural piece. My 9-year-old son was also very inspired by the film and the magical, meditative practice of origami became a part of our daily lives as a result of watching it.

Used, discarded paper was collected around the Butte College campus. I cut this paper into squares, decorated it and provided it, along with instructions for making the origami crane, in the student lounge. Students and I made over 350 cranes over the course of one week in April, 2011.

The cranes folded by students were used to create the final piece, which I called Cresting Cranes.

The crane was selected as the the form to use for this project because of its significance in Japanese culture as a symbol of peace and wish-granting. Both of these concepts are appropriate for Earth Day and represent my own wish for the creation of a peaceful and healthy planet. 

Butte College Sustainable Art & Architecture Show

I've got a new piece in this show, now up at Butte College in conjunction with the This Way to Sustainability conference.

It's called CMYK and is made from used printer paper and toner (from spent cartridges) that I collected in the Butte College Digital Art & Design department.

The show runs through November 21 at the Art Gallery in the Arts building on the main campus.

Opening reception: Friday November 5 from 3:30 to 6 pm.

See more recycled art in the gallery.

A Collaboration

Here's the result of my collaboration with poet Hilary Tellesen for the Ekphrasis show at 1078 Gallery. My recycled art piece is below and Hilary's poems are on top—see below to read them. 

Awed Socks, 2010.
Salvaged fencing, socks, rocks, beeswax, pigment, oilstick

Click for a larger view of Hilary's poems:

 

See me at Janice Porter's Jtown at 1078 Gallery

Jtown is an interactive art environment by my dear friend Janice Porter that will be taking over the 1078 Gallery in Chico in October.

I've got a structure in her imaginary, utopic neighborhood of the future—a sculpture that's part meditation hut, part wedding dress—all made from recycled and salvaged materials (mainly plastic trash).

Janice has lots of events planned—check out the flyer and see you there!

Last Days at The 46

The art on the walls was the last thing I moved out of The 46 a few weeks ago. Matt Barber and Andrew Terrell have taken my place there and I'm excited to see what the two new guys and Dylan will have in store.

These are sculptural sketches done over the past 2 years—ideas for pieces, experiments and explorations excuted in miscellaneous salvaged/recycled materials.

There are more photos in the Gallery.

More on Fruits of Refuse

After two weeks in Chico's Bidwell Park, the pieces in my Fruits of Refuse installation had started to become part of the landscape. They'd been rained on and were full of oak leaves.

A swarm of ants was working on an open package of Sour Straws candy.  One piece had gone missing, been found and returned.

The boot had sprouted:

Visitors had added their own touches, many of them following the color palette of the piece, like this blue beer can added to the center of a blue and yellow sculpture:

Fruits of Refuse—Art from Park Trash!

Every year visitors leave tons of garbage in Bidwell Park. Fruits of Refuse is a site specific, recylced art installation created from this litter, displayed in the park setting. A surprising array of materials, collected by volunteers, is transformed into sculptural pieces that mingle with the natural environment.

October 18 - November 1, 2008
Artist's reception Saturday October 25, 4-6 pm
One Mile Recreation Area, Bidwell Park, Chico California.

Project funded in part by the City of Chico and The ChicoProject, LLC.

Collecting Trash for Fruits of Refuse at the Park Cleanup

On Saturday a bunch of friends helped me collect trash in Bidwell Park as part of the annual Bidwell Park and Chico Creeks cleanup organized by the Butte Environmental council.

We collected about 50 lbs. of trash that will be recycled become the Fruits of Refuse art show, to be displayed at One Mile in October. Thanks Janice, Jessica, Jeff, Jude and Catherine!

Some of the items that have been collected and will be part of the finished work: alcohol bottles, backpacks, balloons, beer cans and bottles, beverage containers, bike parts, bikes, blankets, bras,  cardboard, cigarette butts, cigarette lighters, cigarette packages, clothing, coffee cups, construction materials, disposable razors, fast food packaging, flip flops, grocery item packaging, junk mail, keg cups, lawn chairs, party remnants, plastic bags, religious literature, ribbons, rolling paper wrappers, roofing felt, school project on medevil castles, shoes, snack food packaging, toys, underwear, water toys, wood.

There's more about this recycled art project in the gallery.

Bodies of Work at The 46

To see photos from the show click here.

And read about it in the Chico Enterprise Record here.