Art from found objects makes viewers investigate and search as if on an elusive and magical treasure hunt. Ordinary, everyday objects are transformed into extraordinary, sophisticated, and unexpected objects of art. The artist’s imagination and ability to look beyond a prescribed way of thinking and see an entirely different realm of possibility is the extraordinary appeal of art from found objects.

Found objects art is created when an academic-
ally trained or folk artist takes pre-existing manmade or manufactured objects with universally understood uses (e.g., tools, book parts, machine parts, jewelry, baubles, glass objects, etc.) and fuses them with other materials to function as parts of a recognizable art object. The original objects take on completely different functions—providing beauty or whimsy and helping to create mixed-media sculptures, furniture, yard art, or other unimaginable creations.

Art from found objects is simple, yet unfamiliar and thought-provoking. Found objects have intriguing earlier lives, whether keys from someone’s house or ignition, buttons or jewelry worn long ago, bicycle parts that once rode many places, or pages from books. While this art takes on a child-like quality with its whimsical, pieced-together nature, it also
communicates a sophisticated design, intent, and a sense of the past.

Barry George says: “The found object is my muse. I have worked for 15 years incorporating these artifacts of our society in my artwork. My creations are sometimes serious, expressing my ideas on our society. I create for my enjoyment and yours. Recently, I have incorporated forged elements in my sculpture to help me achieve a desired effect. Forging entails bringing steel to red heat and hammering, blacksmith style, to shape it.” George transmutes parts from machines, vehicles, and handtools, and combines these with forged steel to create his nature-oriented, whimsical, or sometimes socially and politically expressive sculptures. It is George’s innate aesthetic vision that is extraordinary—the imagination of his creative mind. (see George's work at Davis Gallery in Austin, Texas.)

Lauren Levy says: “Running your hand through piles of old buttons conjures up the loss of people who used them and the loss of their function and value as objects.” Levy’s sculptures are made of vintage buttons of every color, size, and shape, bought from antique stores and junk shops. She dyes them in pots of different colors, the variations in materials determining a color’s different shades. Using her knitting and metalsmithing background, Levy strings buttons onto wires and weaves them onto wire structures. Levy’s tactile pieces have an endearing toy-like quality, yet retain a strong aesthetic, philosophical, and symbolic nature. Some of her sculptures seem familiar; others are purely imaginary, such as Strawberry Glazed Donut Jacket, complete with arms for the donut. Lauren Levy is represented by D Berman Gallery.

Lance Letscher explores form in his abstract paper collages by confronting viewers with colors, design, and rhythms. These formal elements work on a more oblique philosophical level to evoke emotional or physiological experiences. “People will see my work in their homes in different states of mind and light. Focused color saturation and placement generate different responses, rhythms, and visual experiences.” Older Student reflects Letscher’s borrowing from older folk-art designs of quilts. He sorts old book covers and papers (recipes, ledgers, diaries, etc.), and then designs, cuts, and arranges paper strips to create color saturations and rhythms, a process similar to old-time quilting. Collectors and museums have noticed the recent rise of his beautiful and appealing works in national and international circles. Lance Letscher is represented by D Berman Gallery.

Patricia Karr delights in sending customers on
a treasure hunt to see how many different objects they can find on the whimsical sea maiden, Mermaid. The heavy concrete base is covered with thousands
of tiles, beads, baubles, and shells, in colors of the ocean. Mosaics create her skin; her tail is thickly composed of vintage costume jewelry; thick strands of faux pearls and jewelry compose her luxurious waves of hair; her tail is richly covered in pearls, vintage
jewelry, political and joke buttons, army medals, religious medallions, beads, fish, and shells. Karr buys volume baubles from junk sales and flea markets. Patricia Karr’s work can be seen at Local Color.

Spontaneous shoppers, sophisticated art lovers, serious connoisseurs, and museums collect these familiar, yet uncommon, works for many reasons—the object’s beauty, meticulous craftsmanship, whimsy, history, complexity, appealing simplicity, or its value on the art market. Museums purchase an artist’s work when they see it as innovative and maturing over time, and believe it possesses a place in the history of art.

Galleries/Studios Offering Found Object Art:
1550 Gallery
D Berman Gallery
Barry George Sculpture (see Studios page for information)
Local Color Contemporary Art Gallery --closed
Susie Fowler, Shadetree Potter
Tips on Art

By Anne Gilliam, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art history and has worked professionally
in the arts and cultural industry for 14 years, in arts administration and policy, marketing and public relations, museums and galleries, and fine arts consulting.

Photos courtesy of Barry George, D Berman Gallery
(Levy and Letscher), and Local Color.
© 2004 Art Lover’s Guide. Inc.