About the work
I came across working on recycled materials in my first-year project, and as I did the Green Design and Sustainability module, it raised my attention to all the environmental issues and the urge to take our responsibility to protect the nature. Therefore, I want to do a project that is using waste material only, recycling and upcycling them into something useful and meaningful.
I want to create delicate artwork that provide my viewers with a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere, as well as reminding them that these unwanted materials are not useless if we are creative enough to transform and upgrade them through the upcycling process. Therefore, I used plastic bottles to create a bed of flowers on a plinth, and a mirror box with plastic flowers inside. The mirror box also explores its relationship with space and reflection, turning finite numbers of flowers into infinite and thereby expanding the scale of the work.
The Infinite Flower Box
For my practical works, although using waste material is the intention of minimizing the impact to the environment, I want to emphasize the importance of upcycling, a way that constructs a higher quality product and with a greater value than the originals. Thus, I want to create delicate artwork that provide my viewers with a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere, as well as reminding them that these unwanted materials are not useless if we are creative enough to transform and upgrade them through the upcycling process. Therefore, I used plastic bottles to create a bed of flowers on a plinth, and a mirror box with plastic flowers inside. The mirror box also explores its relationship with space and reflection, turning finite numbers of flowers into infinite and thereby expanding the scale of the work. Besides the sculptures, I will use photography or maybe video as a tool to develop further investigation.
The Final Look
Yayoi Kusama’s infinity mirror room enlightened me to use mirror to expand my limited amount of flower sculptures into infinite, which not only brought out a new perception of the work, but also enrich the content. By putting the realistic flowers in a mirror box, I was able to assemble the small scale of sculptures into a large piece of artwork.
Making the Box Step 1
Using acrylic mirror and wooden board to create the mirror box. The wooden board has to be the same size as the mirror sheet. After getting all the sizes right, epoxy resin is used to strongly glue the mirror onto the board.
Step 2
Gluing the sides of the box by using epoxy resin again. This time, equipment is needed to hold the box's position and let it dry for a few hours.
Step 3
Before attaching the top side onto the box, individual flowers need to be hung from this board first. To hang up the flower, first using electric drill to make a tiny hole on the board. Then using fish wire to tighten the flower and make a not to secure it.
