ABOUT DIANA TOMA

Creating art from found objects and discarded materials is one of my favorite activities because it allows me to unrestrictedly expand my imagination by looking at an object and imagining a new way of using it. It's a process of discovery. The more I look, the more I see that there is more to see. Up-cycling - repurposing objects as a way to be present to and practice environmental awareness - has been preoccupying my mind for a while now. It's about transforming an unused item into something of similar or greater value, giving it a second life. There is no energy used to create a new item. I like to call it recycling in high heels. It's imagination at play.

The story of this series presented here at Jack Art Gallery, started when I noticed some old used LP records at a local store called Criminal Records in the Little Five Points area of Atlanta. Nobody could listen to them as they were pretty damaged, scratched and faded, so they were giving them away for almost nothing. While nostalgically just flipping trough them I got really inspired of the titles of the songs, and decided to let them be frames for future artworks. So I ran to my studio and re-employed parts and pieces from my old drawings, fragments of human bodies: torsos, hands and full body figures and created miniatures of former artworks. I laid some inside a concave shape, so when you look at them is almost like taking a peak inside of an eggshell. You have to get really close to it to see the drawing well, and the closer you get, the more personal your experience with it becomes.

I entitled my 14 piece series: All pigs are fed and ready to fly! Try this on: when you're face to face with each, let your imagination run and expand just a second more then you're used to. What do you see?