Creating re-purposed chairs and tables inspired by children's ideas.

Holly Warren,Poppies 2014

Holly Warren,poppies 2014

Holly Warren,2015 Cava Usai , Wreath

Waste v Nature: how to negotiate a truce.

We are always in awe when presented with a breath-taking scene from nature whether it is a mountain scene or a beach view, a waterfall or the stillness of a lake. We witness a sense of inner peace and connection with the world.

Our views change dramatically when we are confronted with consumeristic waste. We do not feel connected and refuse it. It rings a wrong note inside us and leaves a bitter taste.

Can nature and waste come together?

Can a dialogue be found?

Can two opposites find an agreement?

Thinking along the lines of: What a waste! Refuse refuse and fuse!! I would like to share a project I did using plastic bottles, titled “Co-Living, reuse refuse” I used discarded plastic bottles, wire, plastic cups, plastic straws and paper. The installation was place in a condominium garden where a forgotten rose bed was looking for a touch of regeneration.

Consumeristic waste can be manipulated to mingle pleasantly with our environment where the presumed end of use can be a new beginning.

I was greatly inspired by Alejandro Duran’s project Washed Up, accessible at http://www.alejandroduran.com/

And Lea Turto accessible at http://www.environmentalart.net/turto/ 

     

Holly Warren, 2014, Poppies

Creative Urban Spaces

Finding inspiration can be hard but what if creativity was all around us, right under our nose. It might just be a matter of tuning in…of looking at the spaces and shapes in our environment.

Hidden cues to creativity lie everywhere.

Let us take the example of children’s imaginative ability; it ignites spontaneously. Children look at brick wall, with eyes wide open, and they see it as steps to the sky. They play ‘pretend’ where objects possess a life of their own and engage in creating a parallel reality where simple materials have the power of transformation.

Imagination and creativity are always at hand but as childhood disappears, these characteristics seem to shrivel up and wither away.

How can we keep awake? How can we nurture it? How can we keep this door open and receptive? When does reality stop becoming an opportunity to see beyond?

Working with children has given me the possibility to walk along the path of new realities and when I walk around, I often go in childhood mode where I see my environment come alive and think….that could be….it looks like…what if…

How often do you see under a different light?

How does vision become a tool for creative challenges?

Looking around our cities and town there are so many spaces, places and cues for igniting our imagination….

Inspired by Dan Bergeron aka Fauxreal, accessible at http2010://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/urban-street-art-ivy-hair-2

 Bergeron, D. 2010, Tara

And artist Lavalet accessible at http://www.levalet.org/

Lavalet, 2013, Wheat paste graffiti, France.

3. Interactive Land Art

….wherever I leave my hat, that is my home….sang Marvin Gaye in 1962 and later Paul Young in 1983.

Wherever we go, we inevitably leave a trace of our presence, a mark of our being there, a trail of our passage.

On recent holiday, I found inspiration in the flora I found around me. Leaves blown away, flowers that had fallen off the trees, rocks that had been displaced….or any other natural form that I accidentally bumped into.

Thinking of great land artists that have inspired many I decided to make a diary of my traces along my journey.

Looking for patterns in flora has become a constant for me so from now on… wherever I go that is my ….natural canvas. I am looking for ‘nature’s calling’ and will produce a wreath/garland leaving a trace of my presence and an ode to nature.

Temporary and ephemeral…like our being.

Holly warren

Holly Warren,2015,Floral wreath, Olbia

Collaborative art....

wreath/garland growing and expanding