Back in May, I visited my friend and fellow painter Sarah Moore in San Antonio. While there, we toured many beautiful places, The McNay Art Museum being one of them. There I saw “Chalices” by Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, goblets made of colorful candy foils and other assorted trash. (Please click on the link of his name. I swoon.)

I’ve had an affinity for trash for a long time, collecting it, filing it away, and using it in my Good Packaging series. I have some drawers full of trash I’m not sure what to do with: colorful transparent plastic that once held bouquets of flowers, deflated but shimmering mylar balloons, a rainbow of bread tabs, gold, silver and jewel-toned candy foils, thrift store tags in an array of colors, so that each day, different items can go on sale. “Welcome in! Blue tags are half off today!”

My Good Packaging series began in 2015, and before that, I made artwork with salvaged wood, windows, fabric remnants, hardware- materials for the Knox Heritage Salvage Shop that I managed, thrift stores, and garbage gifted to me. I’ve received so many presents of refuse over the years- in the mail, left on a front porch, a zip lock of trash slipped into my hand at a party.

Against the pristine exactness* of my collages, I love the looseness of these goblets: the playful asymmetrical shapes, as if they’re melting. Molten gold and silver. Liquid jewels. If I could pick them up, I’d be tempted to crush them in my hand, not out of malice but compulsiveness.

In oven hot Texas in May, while looking at these trash chalices, I wanted to go home and play with my own trash organized in drawers.

I can’t think of a nicer thing for a piece of art to do.

Run for the Roses
candy foils and acrylic on wood panel
202

*1. Pristine exactness isn’t better or best. I often wish “loose” was my natural tendency.

*2. My collages have an illusion of precision from afar. Get closer and you can see my hand in them.

Trash Chalices.