Still Life With Post-Consumer Plastic

Among the greatest artistic muses to have ever inspired the creation of poetry, art and literature throughout history, the fairer sex has almost always topped the list. Anyone who dabbles in the arts knows that even creativity must on occasion be sparked by outside sources well beyond what the artist can conjure up within their own mind.

Some surround themselves with the beauty of the natural environment and wait for inspiration to strike. Others observe human behavior and allow their minds to wander in an interpretive direction that can be translated via their specific creative discipline.

Modern day painter Amy Mahnick has managed to step outside of the realm of traditional artistic light bulb moments by instead looking toward consumer waste, finding beauty in the mundane. What most of us may perceive as being the entirely ugly spoils of our consumer culture Mahnick sees as ripe for artistic opportunity.

Enamored with the transformational process that takes place when she arranges traditionally unattractive bits of landfill-bound waste such as packaging materials and containers into still-life models, the Brooklyn-based artist translates what is tangible (and even harsh in its eco-reality) into a soft pastel-like incarnation via canvas and oil paint. Her self-described Ugly Duckling makeover infuses every plastic vessel and bottle cap within her arsenal into personality-filled characters that burst forth with life and personal history.

You start to wonder where these pieces of plastic refuse have been and recognize that in the hands of an artist, everything is capable of having great potential...even a relentless eco-system polluter like plastic waste.  Is it possible through Mahnick's paintings to view these discarded remnants in a new, positive light and even rethink how we feel about the role they play within our environment?

While the invention of plastic was lauded as a huge advancement for mankind and for many many decades we embraced its convenience and seeming endless practicality, there is little argument that it ultimately led to one of the greatest environmental disasters of our time that to this day we are stumped as to how to correct. For staunch greenies, there is nothing heart-tugging or identifiable about eternally polluting plastic consumer waste however it is hard to ignore the fact that her subject matter is an intriguing source of artistic inspiration.

The artist states that once she completes her still life compositions and adds yet another colorful canvas to her collection, she believes that her plastic assemblages are forever altered into powerful entities brimming with familiar and approachable character. That seems somewhat of a stretch, however I do believe that her portfolio of painterly plastic arrangements does make for interesting conversation, serving as pleasant eye candy for sure. What are your thoughts?