I created 3 pieces for The Healthy Art Program: An Energy Smart Exhibition. The trio is inspired by different life cycles; cycles of nature, animals, creating, etc. The pieces depict a bird’s nest with eggs = birth, bird wings = life, and a bird skull = death. Each piece was made completely out of Eco friendly materials most of which were provided by the Art Inspector. The materials included FSC wood, handmade oil paint, GreenPix Photo Matte paper, Eco Bond and natural bees wax and dammar resin (tree sap).
During this process one area that inspired and interested me was the concept of Cradle-to-Grave. Cradle-to-Grave or life-cycle assessment is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s (in this case a finished piece of artwork) life from-cradle-to-grave (i.e., from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling). I wanted to explore how this applied to art making on a conceptual and real life basis. Unfortunately I couldn’t find much information or material about the cradle-to-Grave concept as it applies to creating artwork. From my own experience I know that there are a lot of waste and hazardous materials that are produced through art making depending on the medium. This is an area I would like to explore more. I feel it would be beneficial for artists to know where their materials come from, how they get to them and how they should be disposed of.
