Mobile, AL
© Chris Cumbie
2021 Booth
Broken tape measures. Animal bones. Rusted metal and tin. Piano keys. Spindles from broken chairs. Any and all old wood I can get my hands on. I turn these discarded objects into art. My mixed-media art is created using the techniques of hand carving, painting, welding, assemblage, sculpting and pyrography. I attempt to bring different genres and mediums into one piece, by recycling, recreating, refinishing and redesigning ordinary objects and old materials to give them new life as art. By rescuing other people’s “junk,” I try not to just make art, but also to preserve little pieces of history.
Detailed sketching gives me the structure and motion I need to get started.
I find inspiration in objects and build ideas from shape, design, form and color. I study art history, anatomy and the historical treatment of the materials that I use. Always experimenting with better ways to enhance definition and texture, I try to give personality and purpose to anything I work with.