Featured Artist Sherri Madison

Sherri Madison presents an amazing collection of artwork using recycled cardboard in order to inspire and encourage sustainability. Learn more by visiting her website.

 

 

I grew up in an Army family and we moved often. My work is inspired by this military upbringing. Moving every year required lots of cardboard boxes, which provided me ample opportunity to hone my creative skills by using them to create art. On top of that, most of what we owned was recycled and reused.

 

 

My brother and I would make everything from all the moving boxes that were lying around, from forts to toys to furniture to games. I got quite good at manipulating recycled cardboard.

 

 

I also studied traditional art throughout my childhood, always with a deep passion for nature and worldly issues. Military children, from an incredibly young age, tend to see the world on very global scale.

 

 

Later, as an adult and full-time artist, it occurred to me that packaging was quickly becoming a global recycling issue. Once the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic hit, the overabundance of boxes arriving at everyone’s doorstep was a visual queue of my childhood passion. I quickly pivoted from more traditional oil painting to working with cardboard.

 

 

The best way I could think of to bring awareness to reducing and reusing during this time was through my art.

 

 

I began creating fine art from recycled boxes, as well as some simpler projects I could teach people how to make at home.

 

 

My work is made predominantly using gouache, which is a highly eco-friendly paint. This helps make my work even more sustainable. I use it on layered, intricately cut recycled cardboard. It has become extremely fulfilling to show the world what amazing things can be done with cardboard, and that it does not need to go in the trash!

 

 

My goal is to encourage people to recycle by visually showing them the beauty of overlooked objects such as cardboard. I have also begun exploring other found objects such as cork and plastic.

 

 

The paintings in my Diamond Series portray the world’s most famous diamonds juxtaposed on recycled cardboard. This further highlights the issue of waste and consumption. The truth is, both diamonds and cardboard are from the earth, and both are recycled! My work continues to evolve, with the aim of bringing attention to reusing, reducing and recycling.

 

Artist Sherri Madison invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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