John is a recycle artist and lifelong New Mexican. His understanding of the diversity of art started with his father, an Albuquerque police officer. John’s first structured art classes were with Frank McCulloch at Highland High School in 1971. He took classes at TVI (CNM) in advanced metals which started his artistic journey. A technician by trade, John has tried his hand at various art media ans styles from jewelry to printmaking, card making, painting, digital photography and laser engraving. For the past twenty years John has been focusing on creating art out of recycled sheet metals embellished with found and scrounged ephemera and memorabilia. He has shown in a variety of galleries and has been a participant in the respected Santa Fe Recycle Festival for the past five years.
Artist Statement
My recycle art is strongly influenced by the environment, history and culture of New Mexico. My first pieces combined recycled wood and metal with memorabilia to tell stories about my own life, the location of the objects, friends, family and pets. Other pieces were more fantastical in nature, often based on myths and legends which I collected in those decades of traveling around New Mexico. My recent work focuses more on recognizable shapes and subjects. I work primarily with found sheet metal which I cut into recognizable shapes, then paint or enamel before embellishing with additional details – all of which are found objects. Every one of my pieces is fundamentally different because of the unique stories of those embellishments. In addition, I continue to experiment with materials and processes. Working with found materials is an important component of the way I create art and the stories I tell. Most importantly, I believe that using recycled material is important for the state of the planet.
