5 Shovels, Denice Bizot. All images courtesy the artist
Turning trash to treasure has long been an avenue for artists to source affordable and sustainable materials. At the hands of a creator, a population's filth and rubbish can be collected and refurbished into something one-of-a-kind. Chattanooga, TN based artist Denice Bizot gathers rusted garden tools and transforms them into delicate bronze-tinted pieces worthy of display. Her other works also work heavily in metals, like copper and aluminum, and other times she plays the wood worker constructing home design pieces.
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Bizot has collected trash throughout her hometown of New Orleans for nearly 15 years, and she increasingly finds more and more material to work with as the city welcomes more people and more of their waste. The artist turns discarded metal into perforated woks, suspended miniature homes, and finely-wrought and 3D installations that brim with natural movement.In a description of her work, Bizot describes the feel of discovering garbage and repurposing human belongings into art: "For me, the idea of reclaiming, deconstructing and transforming "so-called junk" into works of sculpture is fascinating. Often reworking the surface in terms of color and texture is required to bring out an attractive exterior once covered in mold or metals pitted by weather."
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