Pat Hardie

Artist’s Statement

Above all else, inspiration for my artwork is driven by the concept of taking a discarded item and creating something new, perhaps useful but also visually appealing. Today there are a variety of terms to describe this process: recycling, upcycling, re-purposing. Over the years I have worked with a variety of very different materials – clay, glass, ceramics & more recently textiles, few of which are purchased new; in fact people mostly give me stuff or I purchase ‘salvage’ at thrift shops.

These discarded items ‘speak’ to me and in some respect dictate what I create as they conjure up a narrative journey in my mind. This process takes advantage of our wasteful society and I like to think that’s a good thing. My hope is that my art will awaken the viewer to new ideas of what to do with all that we have accumulated but no longer need.

I am an ardent collector of men’s ties and use pieces of them in most of my art. Men’s ties are becoming a bit of a modern anachronism with fewer men wearing this wonderful fashion accessory. Look carefully at my pieces as most contain at least one scrap from a tie.