*****Please Contact Artist Salvador Campos at [email protected] for Art Prices*****
Artist Statement
Salvador Campos
I am a self-taught artist. For the past 14 years I have used discarded pieces of plastic, metal and cloth found on the streets of Chicago to create sculptures and assemblages. I aim to stimulate the viewer’s perceptual awareness of the beauty and value in the ordinary and to encourage creative imagination regarding reuse of materials in the hope that they will discard less and recycle more.
In their scarred, bent, broken and crushed condition these pieces tell stories of the city. They represent cycles of life in the city. I work with found objects because they speak to me. Each piece contains not only a unique history but potential for aesthetic function.
I work intuitively, putting objects together in new combinations to enhance their expressive power. At some point in the process the piece I’m working on will tell me what it needs to continue. It is then my quest to find the missing pieces.
As I use recycled materials to create familiar and abstract objects. I strive for that moment of recognition when the viewer not only sees the individual parts but the whole thing at the same time.
I use objects that I find in antique shops, thrift stores, and garage sales, or that I find in the street and in people’s curbside junk piles. Sometimes things come together quickly and other times it takes years, to find that missing piece that ties it all together. I am fascinated by the randomness of it all.
Another key aspect of my work is a sense of humor. By using found objects in unexpected ways they often have a sly or ironic aspect in the juxtaposition of unlikely materials or shapes.