It didn’t start with Rauschenberg. But he certainly mainstreamed incorporating found objects and newspaper and magazine images into works of art. A new exhibition at Arts Bonita encourages artists to follow in his footsteps by making paintings and sculpture out of upcycled and discarded objects that concurrently conserve materials and reduce waste.
Also at Arts Bonita, watercolorist Barbara Swift celebrates nature with “Creating a Colorful World.” Her paintings capture the rhythms of the natural world. She uses layered colors along with salt and alcohol to give her paintings a luminous effect.
Both shows open in the Arts Bonita Center for Visual Arts on Sept. 4 and run through Oct. 16.
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“Re-Made” challenges artists to use upcycled materials and discarded items in their art. Doing this involves more than technical creativity. It is about breathing new life into an object or objects that would have otherwise been discarded forever. The works in this exhibition contain at least 50% found materials. Whether it's discarded wood, broken electronics, industrial remnants, or second-hand textiles, the artworks in “Re-Made” demonstrate the power of transformation and the potential for beauty in the overlooked.
“Re-Made” also has an environmental mission. It encourages makers to think beyond the norm in an effort to conserve materials – and present an alternative means of creating. This impetus springs from the realization that the sheer amount of refuse is so vast that it threatens our very existence on this planet.
In “Waste Wars – The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash” (Little, Brown), author and investigative reporter Alexander Clapp writes that globally, mankind now discards 250 million pounds of clothes, 220 aluminum cans and 3 million tires every day.
When it comes to pollution, plastic is the chief culprit. According to Clapp, there’s more than a ton of discarded plastic in landfills and the world’s ocean for every human being alive today on the planet. Along with 1.5 billion plastic cups discarded daily, there are roughly 21,000 pieces of plastic in the oceans for every person on the planet. By 2050, the weight of those plastics will exceed the weight of the world’s fish, combined.
From sculpture and installation to mixed media and small-scale furniture, this juried exhibition features a wide range of media and perspectives. Each piece serves as a reminder of the planet’s fragile state and the urgent need to innovate, rethink, and reimagine how we engage with materials in our daily lives.
“Creating a Colorful World” presents vibrant, emotionally rich artwork created by watercolor artist Barbara Swift. The works she has placed on view at Arts Bonita celebrate the beauty of nature—its colors, rhythms, and quiet moments.
Swift has been an artist from a very young age. Both of her parents were artists, and they encouraged her creative pursuits. Although she is conversant in oil and acrylics to photography and lampwork glass, she embraces watercolor as her primary medium.
“Watercolor gives flight to my passion for colorful, bold and happy art,” says the Michigan transplant. “I am inspired by the gorgeous beaches and tropical landscapes of my Southwest Florida home, where our family has lived since 2006.”
“Creating a Colorful World” features a selection of Swift’s newest watercolor work. Each piece offers a window into Swift’s passion for artistic exploration and emotional resonance, from blooming florals and tranquil landscapes to vivid color studies.
Barbara travels the country with her husband, Pete, and their two dogs, Coco and Dex, sharing her artwork at juried festivals and connecting with audiences who are drawn to the joy and tranquility that her paintings evoke.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.