Small sculptures

In my garden, I often found unexpected small bits of nature blown in by the wind or dropped by birds or squirrels such as broken bird eggs, pinecones, bits of plants or insects. This debris inspired a new idea. I got began to consider ways to use these pieces in my artwork.

At the time, I had been reading about kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing and repurposing broken objects by highlighting the imperfections with gold and silver to make them precious again. In Japanese culture, Kintsugi is also a metaphor for embracing your flaws or imperfections. These broken pieces could symbolize the life experiences that have made us stronger, more resilient individuals.

Combining collecting elements from my garden and kintsugi, I developed a series of multimedia pieces that include paintings, drawings and sculpture. Garden elements have often been subject matter for my paintings, so the topic is not new, but the approach is different. To me, this is an extension of my other work. I have taken ‘real’ elements, what the world sees as debris from the garden and highlighted them by isolating each element. Each imperfect element is now special and singled out but still part of the whole.