John Hansen
Sculpture
I represent my world through waste. Waste is matter of perspective, or I should say I do not like to waste anything. I am not attempting to go green or recycle; however, I was raised with the adage, “Waste not, want not.” Many aspects of how I utilize materials reflect the simplicity that my parents raised me with. Compared to today’s standards my parents were raised well below the poverty line. Value and worth came from a hard day’s work and all that you could scrape together. The thought of throwing anything away, that you worked so hard for, was foolishness.
It is only now that I realize what a profound influence my upbringing has had on my work. Waste has caught up to my parents; actually, it is more that time has wasted away their health and my mother’s life. My fear is that I will waste all that I have been given. Mortality and its limited nature pushes me to preserve my world and aspirations with the art making process. I suppose it is a naïve notion, to assume that I have any control or power of preservation. At the least, I will continue trying not to waste anything.
It is only now that I realize what a profound influence my upbringing has had on my work. Waste has caught up to my parents; actually, it is more that time has wasted away their health and my mother’s life. My fear is that I will waste all that I have been given. Mortality and its limited nature pushes me to preserve my world and aspirations with the art making process. I suppose it is a naïve notion, to assume that I have any control or power of preservation. At the least, I will continue trying not to waste anything.