Leslie Dempsey
drawer from broken desk, scrap wood, acrylic, wire, copper tacks, copper wire and copper sheet
drawer from broken desk, scrap wood, credit card, photo, game pieces, acrylic, wire, copper tacks, copper wire and copper sheet
found obsolete telephone, telephone cord, scrap wood, copper wire, raffia
beach junk: plastic netting, strapping, fishing line, wood; beads
obsolete cables, scrap wire, scrap plastic netting, beads, broken chalice
recycled marble, hardwood, recycled speaker wire, copper wire
I am confused and alarmed by the ‘throw-away’ attitude of much of the US population. We are dazzled and enslaved by the superficial shiny surface and quick to upgrade, renovate, and replace at the first sign of frayed edges or rust. We build mountainous piles of our discards in out-of-the-way corners or bury them in vast pits. We ship them on barges to other countries to put them out of sight, and out of mind. How easily our things become valueless. I admire the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi that elevates and honors the process by which things age and degrade over time.
My work is about creating meaning and value from the discards and de-valued things. I am attracted to the patina of decay. As I collect materials and fragments, I assemble a mental catalog of things that form a vocabulary. I may not yet have discovered what a given word means,but I’ve felt a resonance that indicates that a meaning is there. Over time, I combine and re-combine elements until the connections and patterns emerge to express an idea, emotion, or story.
Leslie Dempsey
Leslie@LimpidArts.com / PO Box 11, Lummi Island WA 98262