Assemblage Project

~In Process~

~Final Product~

Artist Statment

The main idea that guided “Trash Dragon” was to create a creature made entirely from materials that would otherwise be thrown away or recycled. One goal of mine was to have it take up space in a unique way. I hoped that people would look at my piece and that it would catch people’s eyes and spark their interest. The reason for choosing trash as a medium came from a bell-ringing video that we watched in class that showed an organization that creates art sculptures only from things that they find washed up on beaches. This intrigued me, and I decided to try the same. As I gathered materials I was amazed by how much my family throws away. My feeling of amazement quickly turned into my feeling upset by how much we throw away. Hopefully, “Trash Dragon” will serve as a reminder that all of the things that we throw away do not actually go away. They end up in landfills where they do not biodegrade, but instead just sit and break down over hundreds of years. These things can be turned into works of art, many can be recycled, and others simply must be stopped from being created. As much of my work this year, the environment was a key factor in why I created the “Trash Dragon.”

This sculpture was made using a variety of materials. I started with newspaper, cardboard, and duct tape for the armature. The duct tape that I used was black, gorilla duct tape. I coated the whole sculpture in duct tape and then used old rope that was collected from the ocean to make the patterns on the back. The triangular patterns on the sides of the dragon were made using a pringles can, an old used canvas, and the inside of a chip bag. The eyes were made using hot glue. the material list for this project was quite extensive, but that was mostly because I was determined to make it all out of materials that I had, and that would otherwise be thrown away (besides my adhesives). The wings of the dragon were made of cut-up plastic bags that I essentially ‘paper-mache’ onto the cardboard wings.

Starting this piece was difficult! I had grand plans at first that involved creating a 7 feet long sculpture of waves. But that fell through once I started the armature for it because I realized that I did not have time to make that large and detailed project. After running through many different ideas and coming up empty-handed, I started to doodle in my notebook. I took one of the prompts for Honors Foundations of Art and I started to draw it. Eventually, it became a very interesting dragon figure. I loved the shape, so I decided to make it as my assemblage project. I created the armature out of the first armature I had started, and eventually, the dragon started to emerge. At first, I had planned to use old seltzer cans on the back or wings of the dragon, but I ran out of time because I had spent so long brainstorming it. In the end, I came up with a product that I am satisfied with, however with a little more time I have a few more details that I would love to add.