When we moved to Eugene last year, our friend told us about an art challenge at MECCA, which is a local thrift store for art supplies. People in the community donate objects and art supplies to help reduce waste and give local artists an affordable place to be creative. For the past 15 years, they have held an annual art challenge called Object Afterlife.
People sign up in early summer, pay a fee, and are given a mystery bag or box of objects. You have to use these objects to make artwork that will be displayed in October. I did the art challenge with my husband and my best friend. We all went to art school many years ago, but don’t make art on a regular basis anymore.
I chose a box that was promising. It was heavy. When I opened it when we got home, I found a tile and some wooden dowels.
I was stumped. What on earth could I make with this? I went through several mental iterations, sketching some ideas out. In the end, I decided to use the tile as the background and make figures out of the dowels.
I created a political piece, called “Roe Rage” making the dowels into handmaidens and creating a yarn painting of a uterus. The handmaidens stand on children’s wooden blocks that spell out RESIST.
Dave (David Krueger) received two pieces of fabric. He made this amazing shell after coating the fabric in white paint. He drew an octopus, had it silk-screened on plexi glass and suspended it in front of the shell.
Jill (Jill Thomas) was given a bag full of jewelry making supplies, including a lot of beads. She made this incredible paper mache vulture and beaded the bird.
This truly was a challenge, but I think we made some incredible things from objects that might have just been thrown away.
My piece was even showcased on MECCA’s Facebook and Instagram feeds. I was thrilled.
