Courtney Adair Johnson

My work balances on object making and awareness of my chosen medium, reuse. I source materials to create with. I bring mindfulness to discard, encourage and teaching reform of our trash.

 

I call myself a reuse artist.  

 

I am interested in creating awareness of our waste through art.  Looking at what we consume and the throwaway, connecting with what goes through our hands. 

 

I source my supplies, be it paint to the obscure sparkle on the street.   I assemble, weave and sew together what we use and abandon.  Printing, bookmaking, painting, puppetry, assemblage and walking are all used to promote reuse.

 

I begin by looking for the excess, how can we divert it, how can we use it differently. What can't be used and why?  

 

The material dictates my movement, how I fit things together, forms, shapes.  I look for color and contradictions, layers and mistakes in the building of my story.  Unwanted drawings, candy wrappers, plastic throwaways, broken objects inspire new creations that translate into an mindfulness of what materials we consume and throw away.

 

By reflecting on our waste we see that there has to be a better answer.  Building community through waste awareness and art making, we can make a more sustainable future. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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