As an artist I am always exploring new ways to create art. One of the things I am passionate about is reusing materials. As such, I have created works from discarded Styrofoam and concrete to just about everything I have found on the side of the road.
Reclaimed Palm Tree Fronds
In the autumn of 2013 I found several fronds that had fallen from the palm trees in our apartment complex’s common area. I, of course, picked them up and brought them into the house.
I kicked around several ideas on how I could best use the pieces and created some western chaps as decor. I then moved onto creating creatures and masks.
In 2016, I created two pieces from palm fronds and other reclaimed materials for a competition sponsored by an international hotel chain called the Moxy. Visit Talenthouse to see the new work.
Sunrise, a thing of beauty, also brings the potential for danger in the desert. The blue sky, clear almost all year. The rays are depicted by the spiny stems of the palm tree fronds, handled with extreme caution. The gold represents the life that the sun brings, and the red robe speaks a cautionary tale. The desert is a place of beauty that must be respected.
27.25″ x 47.5″ Reclaimed Mixed Media
We wait with bated breath through the brutal Arizona summer for monsoon to rise up and end the dry season with the relief that the rains bring to the desert.”As when the dryness and the rain finally drink from one another, the gentle cup of mutually surrendered tears…” from The Dryness and the Rain by mewithoutyou
28.5″ x 47.25″ Reclaimed Mixed Media
My most recent pieces are geometric wildlife created from reclaimed wood
Reclaimed Styrofoam
This Styrofoam was foraged from construction sites in the St. Louis Metro area. It was carved with a heat knife and finished with concrete. The series “A Million Years in 180 Days” was featured in several galleries and shows.
View some of my reclaimed furniture here.
View the Baton Rouge Flood project here.
Armando 