rusty circles

in a world as broken as this one, where i notice rubble and detritus all around me all the time, i feel like part of my job as an artist is to make some kind of sense of all the bits and pieces of our lives.  i recently sold this collage, and the recipient wanted to understand what all the parts meant.  i always find that to be an interesting question.  for me, one of the things it means (and this is true of every collage i make) is that i believe in redemption.  i believe that even what is broken and torn and rusty and discarded can still be used for something.  it ultimately affirms my belief that God not only can still use me, but loves me, despite my brokenness, my tears, and my uselessness at times.  for me, art = faith.  not in ways that i can mathematically prove or explain, but in ways that resonate in my spirit and call me to keep looking for bits and pieces of broken life all around me, and to keep creating. 

and so i do.

here is a collage i made with some of the rubble of life:

"rusty circles"

mixed media assemblage

gregory a. milinovich

i took an old muffin pan that i rescued from someone's garbage, and covered it with bits of torn dictionary (also rescued from the garbage). 

then i filled all of the cavities with various old metal hardware to which time and oxidation had given a rusty petina.  i used pieces that were in some way circular or round to match the patterns of the round places for the muffins in the pan. 

why?  why would i glue dictionary pages and old rusty washers into an old muffin pan?  because i believe in second chances; because i believe in redemption.