A PIECE OF ROCK AND WIRE HANGER UPCYCLED TO ART

By Juan Montoya
When people see glass and other refuse littering the side of a highway, they see trash.
When Maria Montoya-Hohenstein surveys the same scene, she sees these items become utilitarian – even decorative – objets d’art transformed by the hands and mind of an artist to become statements in defense of the Earth, the environment and an act of defiance against consumer culture.
Art, it is said, is in the eyes of the beholder, and in the case of upcycled art, it is the production of works and crafts that not only recycle what someone may judge as refuse, but also infuse an artist’s creativity to transform objects without any apparent worth into pieces that not only serve other purposes than what they were intended, but also are transformed and have added economic and aesthetic value as a result of the process.
This in itself is not new.
The Native Americans use the carcasses of porcupines for their quills and hair to create beautiful earrings, breastplates and bustles that transformed a dead animal into beautiful (and now extremely valuable) works of art. Feathers, hair, and even the bones of  animals took on new life and spirit with the Natives’ vision and touch.
Prisoners, too, craft discarded string, cloth, and strands of plastic into religious and cultural icons that – to them – gain value because they allow them to sell and barter for the things they need inside.
Each of us will produce about 127, 604 pounds of garbage in our lifetime, said the artist.
In these times when our culture is growing eco-friendly and we’re all encouraged to repurpose, reuse, and – now – upcycle, art has become the handmaiden of Nature.
Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of a different quality or for better environmental value.
It is worth more in its new form.
"Upcycling is designed to work in opposition to consumer culture, encouraging people to think of new and innovative ways to use things, instead of simply buying new consumer goods,” says Hohenstein. “It also benefits the environment, by promoting reuse over discarding whenever
possible."
Upcycling, as you can see, also applies to the way we are reconceptualizing our view of Art and Nature and our niche in the ecosystem.