Susan Berstler
“Obelisk to Consumersim 1, Detail"
Recycled plastic bags
8' x 3' x 1"
full image

artist statements

Susanne Bartz: email
I hate clutter but I collect junk--junk to others, but treasure to me. So in order to keep the items I collect moving, I’m constantly making new artwork incorporating my found and discovered pieces. I also look at anything I would consider discarding or donating and wondering if I can use it in an interesting way--nothing in my house is put to waste. My mixed media work incorporates text, images both drawn and from collage and objects of various materials to create layered narratives that tell a story through color and texture. Reoccurring symbolism is found in a number of my pieces such as keys, wings and hearts to convey messages of strength, knowledge, wisdom and spiritual journey. The piece “Self-Portrait I (Heritage)” combines pieces of my past and artistically, if I could wear what I create, this would be the outfit. 

Susan Berstler: email
Obelisks to Consumerism
Like so much in our throw away society, these obelisks to consumerism will last much less longer than their stone predecessors. Constructed of discarded store bags, these pieces serve as a monument to the stores and malls that populate our world. From the elite like Harrods to the ubiquitous like Target, the Gap, Old Navy, Nike, the Body Shop and so many others, the obelisk looms tall as bag upon bag upon creates a chaotic yet controlled fusion of color, texture and intent. There is, of course, humor involved that the discarded refuse from these chain stores of capitalism came together to form these unique structures.
These two pieces are the first in a series intended to form a modern-day plastic Stonehenge.

Susan Del Conte: email
Susan Del Conte is a sculptor, painter and mixed media artist who lives and works in Somerville, Ma. She is currently working towards her MFA in Visual Arts at the Art Institute of Boston/Lesley University. Susan’s pieces contain materials which she rescues from obscurity and transforms into new incarnations. Through an obsessive process of searching and reconfiguring Susan alters the remnants of urban decay found in her immediate neighborhood into pieces which are sometimes humorous, sometimes ominous. Susan’s pieces beg the questions: How do we assign value to objects? When does an object become valueless? Can an object ever truly be without value?
Susan welcomes the impact that chance, uncertainty and experimentation can bring to her work. Her pieces serve as allegories for survival and bestow the message that all matter possesses the potential to transform into something else if given the opportunity.

Emily Greenwood: email
Since I first began printing black and white photographs I have been drawn to things forgotten, discarded, or neglected. In Paris I was drawn to old cemeteries, where gravesites were long forgotten and had broken windows and graffiti scrawled on the sides. Recently I have been shooting rusted cars, junkyards, anything were nature is slowly eating away at the manmade. These pieces also include traditional still lives, taken while wandering the halls of Montserrat College of Art, where I work. The dolls reminded me of old dirty Barbie’s left in the yard after play or stuffed animals landing in thrift shops, no longer loved by their owners. As an admired or anything with peeling paint, rusted metal, or stained cloth, I know that material objects are impermanent, and therein lies beauty.

Dora Hsiung: email
My work in this show are made with discarded materials which I have been collecting for many years.  They are from Boston Children’s Museum Recycle Center, from my friends, and other places I can’t even remember.  My art is a personal statement of my feeling, expressed through transforming materials, especially those which have been considered useless and trashed.  I want to make people to look at the recycled material in new ways, and encourage children to be more creative--playing with recycled materials instead of spending most of their time on computer games and television.

Craig La Rotonda and Kim Maria: email
In 1996, artists Craig LaRotonda and Kim Maria began working on creative projects together in the same studio space.  LaRotonda’s background in painting and sculpture from the University of Buffalo combined with Maria’s intimate assemblage and collage techniques naturally developed into a prolific collaboration.  As a result of their partnership, they formed Revelation Studios, a fine art and commercial studio located in Brooklyn, NY.  “Exchanging ideas, developing concepts and creating the work has been an exciting as well as a challenging experience for us.  It really forced us to put our egos aside and work in tandem in order to create artwork based on a unified vision.”
Craig and Kim’s collaborative assemblages are unique wall sculptures fashioned from a thoughtful selection of hand-sculpted figures depicting ancient saints, sideshow freaks and mystical creatures adorned with antique relics, various found objects, and organic materials.  “Both of us are captivated by found objects because of their rich patinas and connections to an unknown past.  An object’s color, form and significance to the subject are what we consider when selecting assemblage materials for our work. We intend to intrigue, provoke, challenge and inspire the viewer. Revelation Studios is about transportation for the mind.”  

Lawrence Paolella: email
Lawrence re-used his political yard signs to creates signs of FEAR, HOPE and PEACE.  He chose form twenty-six colors of old salvaged family house paints saved from the landfills. “I believe every effort to re-use, re-store and re-cycle helps to save the planet. You ought to try it. It feels good.”

Margaret Ann Ryan: email
I have always enjoyed taking found or saved objects and turning them into something new:  Transforming them into a creation of my own making. In this current piece of recycle/renew art:  SOMERVILLE KITCHEN STOVE, CIRCA 1981 there is much recycling. The white knobs and round metal burners are the ones that were on my first Somerville kitchen stove, as noted by the photos from the early 1980’s, the silver knob, a ‘street find’. Also in the piece is recycled plywood, paints that friends were ready to toss, a piece of flooring from a friend’s house reminiscent of the early 80’s. Most of all the assembling of this piece recalls many tasty meals made on that ancient looking beast, which also provided the heat source for the kitchen, a novelty for me when I first moved in.  This stove was reliable and indestructible and only replaced two years ago! Things were made well in those days!  Everyone who saw it loved it and had a stove story to tell!

Peter Thibeault
copy.

V Van Sant
Most people would throw out used flash bulbs, broken toys, or candy wrappers. Not me! If I liked something I would tuck it away to use "in a box". I especially love multiples of things. There was a period of time when my collage boxes seemed to reflect what I did for a living. I would always seem to accumulate little odds and ends at work and they would end up in my artwork. The years I worked in a hobby store were great! When used, these objects become precious, they have worth again, they are valued. It is art.

Wayne Viens
I have always delighted in saving things from the trash, things that would have been crushed and destroyed forever if I had not rescued them. My favorite objects for art-making are dolls, toys, stuffed animals, mannequin parts, and faces of all kinds. Sometimes the worn dolls and stuffed animals I find tell whole stories just as they are, but mostly I am interested in transforming them; wrapping them with panty-hose, rope, cloth, lace, underwear, yarn, etc. Often they are decorated with hundreds of treasures also salvaged: beads, baubles, pins, rhinestones, glasses, masks, and other objects. I like to think I turn these often tragic cast-offs into gods and goddesses, fetishes and trophies, demons and warriors. They also represent spirit guides that aid us on our journey through life, and the lost souls that don’t make it.