I am a collector of the insignificant and mundane. Forlorn, abandoned and broken objects, street trash, and washed up beach debris have found their way to my studio. I examine the potential of objects that are free-for-the-taking—castoffs that have lost their value—and begin the creative proces by asking the question what if. Using techniques including sewing, cutting, hammering, welding, drilling, pouring, deconstructing, reconstructing, and coloring, I give birth to a new object.

One way I begin a sculpture or painting is with a thought that occurs upon waking. Rarely is the piece fully visible, more like a fragment for inspiration. Another process for bringing a work into life is through the mingling, rearranging and shopping in the studio. The element that most determines the succes of a work is lightness—light in weight, responsive to (or suggesting) movement by air currents, enhanced visually through translucence, and generally lighthearted in content.

As an artist from the South, making art from recycled materials is a tradition deeply rooted and revered. I cannot think of a better way to express and rejoice in the regenerative cycle of life than to harvest what is already around and use these transcendent materials in the making of my sculpture and assemblages.

Robin M Jordan
2011