Collections
I have been collecting things for as long as I remember in my adult life. Things like plant matter, tea bags, metal, rocks...never quite sure why, but compelled to keep going. Through these collections I have learned how to use the things I find and grow to become a scribe of their unusual beauty.
While walking my dog day after day I was finding all kinds of metal bits and pieces of things that people toss on the ground. All I had to do was look down and find metal poetically smashed by cars.
I have finally composed my collections to showcase their delicate nature and presence of spirit that should open a new level of awareness to all that witness.
The second part of this exhibition -Inventory- was about a large collection of metal I was gifted from a friend that moved into a new house and discovered the previous owners left a garage full of metal and garbage. This was about 30 years of collecting. They wanted it gone and saw it as a pile of scrap metal. I was overjoyed to receive this gift!! I slowly went through thousands of pieces from itty bitty precious bits to distinct and original shapes in iron, steel and copper. Each piece would leave a mark. Its history and value recorded. By spotlighting the 'things' I have found, they become important, beautiful, repurposed and again useful.
- Rust Mandala, 2010, steel, copper, silk, tannin, 30”x30”.© BRENT_BARNETT_PHOTOGRAPHY
- Artifacts of Time, installation, silk, rust, natural dyes, patina, 6″x6″
- Artifacts of Time, installation detail, 150 6″x6″ panels.
- Findings, 2010, silk, rust, patina, natural dyes, 24”x8”.
- Findings, 2010, silk, rust, patina, natural dyes, 24″x8″.
- Findings, 2010, silk, rust, patina, natural dyes, 24″x8″.
- Findings, 2010, silk, rust, patina, natural dyes, 24”x8”.
- Findings, 2010, silk, rust, patina, natural dyes, 24”x8”.
- Findings, 2010, silk, rust, patina, natural dyes, 24″x8″.
- Home, 2010, bees wax, bronze, 12”x12”.
- Inventory, installation, silk, rust, stainless steel, aviation wire, 24″x 70′.
- Inventory, Installation view
- Order I, 2010, silk, rust, shibori, natural dyes, 15”x22”.
- Order II, 2010, silk, rust, shibori, natural dyes, 15”x22”.
- Order III, 2010, silk, rust, shibori, natural dyes, 15”x22”.
- Order IV, 2010, silk, rust, shibori, natural dyes, 15”x22”.
- Order, detail
- Reflection, two silk panels, rust, 54″x54″.
- Walking Bella, 2010, silk, rust, cochineal, 8”x18”
- Seasons, 2010, silk, rust, patina, natural dyes, 18”x5ʼ.
- Fall, details of Seasons.
- Summer, details of Seasons.
© Rio Wrenn