I am particularly interested in affecting the surface of found materials. Having collected aluminium cans from around Silvertown and Millennium Mills I am looking forward to revealing the inherent beauty of the material through the process of decay.
Collecting Cans
These cans were collected from around Millennium Mills, a site previously used by homeless people, displaced by new housing developments. Inspired by El Anatsui, who joins flattened bottle tops together with copper wire to create huge installations, I wanted to create a stitched piece with aluminium cans. Originally I intended simply cut them up and stitch them together, but this was too pretty and shiny – I needed to affect the surface of the cans, to deteriorate them. Aluminium does not rust, so I had to think of an alternative way to add interest and an element of decay and destruction to my work.
Corrode the Cans
The solution was to take the collection of cans, clean them up, cut them up and place them in bleach for a few days to corrode them. This created some wonderful patterns and textures.
Aluminium Scraps …
These are the scraps that were left a little too long in the bleach. Waste not, want not, I am going to try and form these into square blocks – I’m not quite sure how to do this yet, but I want the texture and the scrappiness of the pieces to be prominent.