Zack Carpenter
Artist’s Statement:
My art has always reflected the beauty, value and usefulness of broken, disused and discarded items, which I use almost exclusively. Often I see their potential outright, others must be studied and considered carefully before finding their new purpose. I get the most use of anything brass or silver plated as the metal is easily worked and remains bright, however I often use other metals along with wood and glass.
Beginning with a mental image of how the piece will look, I separate it into individual components and start to create them.
I can use anything sturdy enough to handle the transformation of being cut, bent and otherwise shaped as needed, into these components.
With nuts and bolts, wire and/or brazing I join the pieces together and finalize by adjusting where required. The finished piece carries over the life and experience of its parts, often showing through as recognizable or even common objects.
Bio:
As a lifelong artist I have found creativity in a broad range of media. In younger years I often dismantled toys and household items, only to reform them into new toys. For many years I illustrated with ink as a hobby, and painted with oils and acrylic to better understand composition and color theory.
In 2012 I resolved to take up artistry full time and dove into sculpture. The prevalence of discarded items in society drew me to a semi-strict reliance upon them and I became an upcycling artisan. Scraps of wood and metal became raw materials, and electronics provided new frontiers for expansion. Migrating around different styles and using recyclables taught me an array of techniques for handling almost any type of material.
After tiring of making small sculptures and jewelry from found objects, watch parts, etc. I taught myself to create ships in bottles; an incredibly tedious, albeit rewarding process.
I moved on to learn basic electronic fundamentals, and started making functional lights and gadgets. I quickly began incorporating them into newer sculptures and wearable costume pieces, lamps and other functional art.
Still not satisfied I directed my attention to kinetic sculpture, namely automata, using small lengths of carefully bent wire to construct axles and basic mechanics. This helped to further my understanding of physics, material interaction, motion and balance. However, my artistic sensibility was still rough around the edges and was in serious need of refinement. Using found objects often battered, broken and discolored was not helping.
In 2020 I started work as a framer, cutting and building picture frames at the Frame and Art Center in Las Cruces. While not having direct application to my own art, I learned unspoken artistic 'secrets' that gave much insight into the struggle for refinement.
My current body of work is representative of many of my hurdles and unexpected breakthroughs, often incorporating interactive elements. Having learned to isolate 'good' junk from bad and cover my tracks selectively, I now simply allow the material to be what it can become.
