Found Objects

There has been an evolution of PIGSY’s work in both style and media over the past few years where he has moved from working purely on pre-fabricated canvas to creating his own canvas and frames to then going past this and moving in to sculpture using found objects. With the found objects he has been creating mainly figurative pieces that can be viewed as 3D representations of his work on canvas. PIGSY acknowledges the freedom that working with found objects gives him and states that “working off canvas means less boundaries so there are no limits on my creativity”

Hangman by PIGSY

A sculpture created here in Malaga, Spain using found objects and detritus in my studio. Newly arrived from Ireland, I was inspired by the sculptural work of Pablo Picasso to create this expressionist artwork "Hangman" in the hometown of Picasso. It is expressionist in form and in the style of Hawkins Bolden.

I’m fascinated by discarded objects that have been thrown away in the trash can. I decided awhile ago not to throw away any objects from my studio in order to re-piece them together to create art from the unwanted, and what is considered ugly.

For the pictured “Hangman” piece I mainly fabricated it using old paint and tin cans.

The drilled holes in the paint cans do four things

1. The action of the drilling of them create a sense of peace and comfort in my mind, I like the feeling and sound when creating the the holes

2. They represent a seeing into the inner working and thoughts of the mind

3. They act as a release valve that expel the inner pressures of the mind both physically and as a metaphor

4. The allow the inner mind to see out

   
   The hang man and skull is something that I have been obsessing about for awhile now. There is a sense of torment within and the hang mans noose shows how delicate and fragile life can be. I explore a life now where one seeks hope and salvation in organised religion or something similar that will lead us to the promised land, when in truth the answers to our questions are within us in the drilled holes.

Pallet Art

Fabricated from a wooden pallet and used bolts and pieces of metal hardware to form the eyes, nose and mouth.

Discarded pieces of wood that come together in a jigsaw puzzle to mean “something”: What does it mean?

Obsolescence becomes obsolete

A pallet intended to carry objects to their destination now finds itself attached to a piece of chipboard that has been deemed not worthy to be part of its previously intended use. Steel angles and spray can tops now have a new purpose having previously being deemed obsolete. Their new joint purpose in this world is to be part of a creative movement that shows the inner torment of a broken mind. A shiny skull fits into an outer carcass that smiles to hide what is within........oneself.

Art in Lockdown

Pictured is a sculpture that I created during the first Covid19 lockdown in Ireland in March 2020. I sought out items to create an artwork from discarded items (Found Objects) in my living environment within the 2km government restricted exercise zone.  The “Found Objects” piece is a sculptural collage of street and household items which mirrored the situation, that we as a collective society battled during this pandemic war. The piece is an emotional expression of feelings and observations on how a society deals with the physical and psychological effects of a natural enemy that made the government enforce a lockdown (or imprisonment) of it’s people for the greater good of a nation and the wellbeing of all who live within it.

Hope

In essence, my artwork is a response to a moment when society’s psyche was at its most vulnerable. But beyond this time there is hope, there will be the moment when our collective people are victorious in the battle with the “virus”  or war. The weapons to defeat the “virus” or enemy will be us, as we responded to the lockdown and stayed away from each other and ultimately stopped the virus from spreading.

Resilience

The concept for the execution of the piece – using “Found objects” was to adapt, manipulate, distort and amend these objects in order to create an art work that was a direct comparison to how I see us, the citizens of Ireland and the world, emerging from the pandemic as a stronger, more resilient, more aware and ultimately a new and more beautiful humanity. My art mirrors life as we become a literal “Phoenix from the Flames” when we emerge victorious from our war on this viral pandemic, a little shook, a tad broken - but still in one piece.

This artwork was created in conjunction with the large pandemic piece “Phoenix Rising”