Oceans 1
48" x 24" Mixed media on wood backing. Blue ocean background made mostly from plastic water bottles and other plastic found in the ocean and on the beach. Fish and other ocean figures made from glass beer, soda and wine bottles found in the water and on beach. Sand border constructed from beach sand blended with glue and sealed. Paint used under some of the glass to enhance the color.
48" x 24" Mixed media on wood backing. The entire surface of the Bonefish is constructed of recovered/repurposed/recycled broken glass mostly from beer, wine & drink bottles and odd pieces of glass collected in the ocean. The eye is made of concentric plastic bottle tops enhanced/surrounded by small pieces of glass. Background is assorted color paint designed by dripping and layering the paint and letting it take its own natural form with limited intervention.
The Shrine of St. Benjamin
17”W x 14”D x 25”H. Mixed media.
Materials used: Vintage 1960’s attaché case, mannequin arm, watch, newspapers, original & re-printed from 1920’s-70’s, re-printed stock certificates & currency, flip flops carved and painted as various elements, wallet, painted pennies, painted casino coins, pushbutton lights, fishing lures, cardboard, paint & glue. These items were in the case when found: newspapers, stock certificates, wallet painted coins and watch
The Backstory: This is a ‘Shrine’ to Money, Greed, Materialism, Miserliness and Obsession.
This was my Father Max’s attached case where he kept all his financial papers. Max grew up poor in the tenements of New York in the 1920’s, one of four children of Ukrainian immigrants who escaped the terror of the Russian Revolution in 1918 and came to New York penniless, unable to speak English and with few skills. As a result, Max was terrified of a life of poverty, and although he worked only as a laborer, he was obsessive about saving and investing, but, never spending money. Money was his passion; his true love and he fetishized it. On an almost daily basis, he sat in for hours enmeshed in his bank books, investment statements and stock portfolio. His children and wife were a far second to his money, and we knew it. After he passed away I found the suitcase which contained some of these materials that I used in this piece.
Doomsday TV
19"W x 13" H x 7.5"D. Mixed media on repurposed/recycled computer screen and power cable. Other components are rubber mask ($1.00 yard sale purchase), digital watch face & plastic bottle cap (found on the beach) and paint. Mask internal shape formed with recovered coconut shell and newspaper
The World Undone
This 32"W x 17"H piece was inspired by recent world charging events including the Coronavirus Pandemic and the Protests and Black Lives Matter movement. My goal was to create a piece of artwork that showed the link between the natural world and the way in which society has corrupted the natural order through racism, globalism, politics and the unnatural, unending quest for power and money at the expense of people and the environment.
Additional Recycled/Repurposed Artwork:
Flag
Ocean Trash
Sun & Moon Scuba Tank
Peace
Smiley Fin Sunny Fin
Yin Yang
Aquarium
Shark Paddle
Seat of Love
Office Supply
Shark Boogie Board