This mosaic was inspired by this quote from John Constable:
“I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may, - light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.”
It made me start thinking about whether trash could be beautiful. Throughout my mosaic-making years, I have always been interested repurposing things, and I am conscious of the environmental impact of art-making. I’m reluctant to throw things away that are not biodegradable, which has lead me to keep things like used grinder bits and nipper blades, and the spring clips that come with the metal floater frames.
Trashlands: A Meditation on the Earth, Trash, and the Footprint of Artmaking (2012) 18" x 30" | 46cm x 76cm. Marble, travertine, smalti, mosaic gold, jasper, lepidolite, amethyst, ammonite fossil, agate, rhodonite, pink sapphire, turquoise, sodalite, lapis, onyx, glass, hardware, used nipper blades and grinder bits, spring clips. Available.
It seemed natural to incorporate these things into this mosaic and I was mostly happy with how it turned out. I even used an old jar lid for the copper sun. I fretted over that for a few days—to do it or not to do it—and finally relented. Then I regretted it for a few days and pondered how I might remove it without destroying the beautiful round copper gold sun. I finally came to terms with it.
Trashlands, detail. In the lower left is a pink sapphire that artist Sophie Drouin gave me.
Trashlands, detail