The goal of our I HeART New Jersey series is to introduce our readers to local NJ artists. These Garden State makers hone their craft while working with items like clay, metal, paint, film, and more. This month, the focus is on upcycle artists (those who repurpose materials).
These individuals literally turn trash and salvage into treasure, and you’ll be amazed at the creations they’ve made. Take a look at our favorite upcycle artists below.
Quick Click Guide: Click an upcycle artist to go straight to their profile.
| Willie Cole | Jodie Fink | Laura Petrovich-Cheney |
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Willie Cole
Throughout his life, artist Willie Cole has lived in various parts of New Jersey and been inspired by them all; from Somerville to Newark, to his current residence in a more rural area of the Garden State.
“I lived in an industrial neighborhood in Newark for many years; and during that time, I would go into abandoned industrial buildings in search of art supplies,” says Cole. “That’s how I got into assemblage. Traditional art supplies were too expensive.”
Several of Cole’s creations are made solely from plastic water bottles. One such masterpiece is the 15-by-7 feet tall “Beach Bird,” commissioned by the New Jersey Clean Communities Council. It is made from 5,000 water bottles collected by Atlantic City high school students.
“I enjoy visual transformation and finding synchronizing or matching silhouettes in diverse objects,” says Cole. You can find his unique brand of art at museums across the country, including the NYC Museum of Modern Art. To see more, click here to visit his website.
Jodie Fink
At the start of Jodie Fink’s art career, she was a photographer. Then she got tired of flat surfaces and began making collage boxes. Fink was also fond of collecting rusted pieces of metal and discarded, worn-down objects. Now, her work is a new medium of three dimensional sculptures made from found objects.
Fink attributes her design aesthetic to her surroundings; having lived in a more industrial section of New Jersey since 1983. “I never get tired of taking incoherent fragments or ruins from our lives and making new creations. Recycling them and rewriting their stories continues to bring me great joy,” says Fink.
For instance, in much of her art, you’ll find old kitchen tools or pieces of hardware. She then blends these together to make a unified creature. Fink’s exhibitions have been featured in art galleries throughout the tri-state area for the past forty years. You can visit her website to view her extensive collection of metal, wood, and mixed media sculptures.
Laura Petrovich-Cheney
Laura Petrovich-Cheney grew up in Haddonfield and spent summers on the Jersey Shore; after her father fulfilled his lifelong dream to buy a beach house on Pelican Island, near Toms River. As an adult, Laura has lived in Ocean City, Brielle, and Asbury Park. “Like my dad, I had to have sand in my shoes and salt in my hair,” she says.
Not surprisingly, Laura is now known for creating sculptures that fuse her love of the beach and re-purposed materials. In particular, she takes wooden debris that washes up on shore to make unique wood quilts. In fact, many of her creations use wood she found following Hurricane Sandy.
“There is an intimate connection working with wood that survived the storm,” Laura says. “I know that material has memory and wondered about its former life; as a little girl’s dresser or a kitchen cabinet that held cherished china. The salvaged wood holds aesthetic promise, as I transform the material into something new. My hope was to restore some order, meaning, and sense of place to the ravaged landscape by creating something with the wood.” You can visit her website to see all of Laura’s art.
Like this story about Upcycle Artists? Click here for more stories from our I HeART New Jersey series.
Top (Hero) Photo: © Willie Cole
Other Photos (in Order):
Willie Cole
Laura Petrovich-Cheney
