RE: Lisa Medcalf-Woodward

I am ''Lisa the Womble Woman'' a picker up of life's unconsidered trifles. I am a rubbish artificer.

I am one of those people who can see the potential in the things that others throw away. Financial constraints have led to inventiveness and improvisation. Each piece I make is unique.

It has become a habit of a lifetime to ''use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without'' 

Using rubbish as a resource presents challenges, however this is mitigated by the endless supply of throw away items. I use the ''try it out'' method which has led to successes and some happy accidents. By using rubbish I can experiment, so I have the opportunity for limitless possibilities and discoveries.

I find it truly heartening that others rebel at the waste we produce, those who share the philosophy of reusing and recycling rubbish in innovative ways. As a rubbish artificer I challenge the ''throwaway culture'' giving new and significant value to rubbish by transforming it into pieces of usable art. 

We are poisoning lifeforms which are crucial to the survival of mankind. The Earth WILL survive and go on to regenerate anew. If we continue as we are, mankind WILL NOT survive. Time is running out for my beautiful sons and grandsons. I dedicate my artwork to all the children of today, the adults of tomorrow.  

 

 

Letter Rack

This collaborative piece between myself and creative writer Andrew Litten, is in response to the letter rack displayed in the domestic section and the First World War memorabilia items exhibited in the museum.

The letter rack commemorates the Great War. It is constructed from wood reclaimed from my sisters' shed, a record player, ship lap from the old exterior walls of my house and painted newspaper.  The letter rack is decorated using paint and decoupage from recycled one use packaging.

My initial idea was to just make a decorated letter rack from recycled materials. I felt a letter rack without letters was a ''dead'' item and it needed letters to bring it ''alive''. I toyed with filling it with bills and junk mail. I really wanted the visitors to the museum to interact with the work but who wants to read bills and junk mail? I asked my friend Andy whether I could use his poem called ''Breakaway'' (in letter form) with myself writing replies to events in the poem. Andy is an ex soldier, ''Breakaway'' is about the trials and triumphs of an ex soldier. I was prompted to make the letter rack commemorate the Great War by Andy's poem and also link it to the exhibit of the First World War memorabilia in the museum.

This is an interactive piece of artwork, Andy and I would like people to take the letters out, handle them and read them. You can find a full transcript of Andy's poem on YouTube if you type in walkabout nutty.  

 

 

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