ARTIST STATEMENT
My work grows out of a deep concern for the fragile balance between human activity, wildlife, and the natural world. I use found materials—objects that carry traces of their past lives—to create paintings and sculptures that speak to both resilience and loss. I use discarded plastics, weathered wood, rusted metal, and fragments of the everyday reassembled into new forms that reflect the tension between beauty and environmental degradation.
By reimagining cast-off materials, I aim to call attention to the waste that surrounds us and the impact it has on ecosystems and vulnerable species. Each piece becomes a small act of reclamation, and an invitation to consider our relationship with the landscapes and creatures that sustain us.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I’ve always been an artist. Many years ago I came to Chicago from Long Island to study at the School of the Art Institute, where I received an MFA. Before my recent retirement, I was a Chicago Public Schools high school art teacher for twenty five years. Prior to that, I built dioramas for museums around the country, both independently and as an employee of the Field Museum of Natural History. And now, as a retired person, I will continue to make art all the time.
© Patricia Guizzetti