JT Smalley  Presents Www.jtsmalley.com

Throughout my life I have been drawn to the action of assemblage. Assemblage is described as being “a work of art made by grouping found or unrelated objects. I collect objects that have been discarded by their previous owners and recombine them into representational sculptural assemblages. I consider myself to be a Lowbrow artist influenced by the motorcycle culture, 1950’s science fiction, nostalgia and comic books. To me, every object holds meaning and memories of its individual past, where it’s been, what it was used for and who used it. I am influenced by found objects and readymade art which is described by Andre Breton as “an ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art”. I like the thought that the repurposed objects I employ become elevated into the realm of art. In this way, I create a visual poetry working with the detritus of modern civilization and making objects of relevance out of our cultural residue. The cast-off items from a city give hints to a meta-narrative of its history. Trash is a key to the secret language of the city itself. I believe the objects we interact with throughout our lives retain little pieces of our information, and it accumulates over time. The histories of these objects add meaning, like a story being told. Some objects can even represent an entire life, or lives. This is what I glean from the objects I collect. I am influenced by the works of Robert Rauschenberg, Takashi Murakami, Ed Keinholz and Salvador Dali.