If you came across a bunch of rusted, bent, and banged-up shovels in a shed, some even without handles, you might just throw them out. After all, what good are they?
Well, to artist Denice Bizot, they're not junk at all — they're a trove of artwork just waiting to be revealed.
That's because where other people see junk, she sees potential and — like the artist who uses trash to show people that wasting resources is a pretty bad idea — a way to inspire people to see beauty in a new way.
Bizot's home city of New Orleans is currently undergoing a lot of rebuilding and gentrification, and so, she says, the scrap yards are overflowing with scrap metal. And that means an endless supply of material for her sculptures.
Formerly a drafter in the petroleum industry, Bizot went back to school to get her Bachelor in Fine Arts degree, and she hasn't looked back since.
Bizot especially likes working with shovel heads, which she cuts and carves into delicate, lacy patterns you might not imagine when you think "shovel."
Take a look at some of her art, and you may find yourself appreciating your gardening tools a little more!
[H/T: My Modern Met]
Bizot has been interested in working with and transforming discarded objects for a long time, and frequently rummages through scrap yards in New Orleans for materials.
"The idea of reclaiming, deconstructing, and transforming so-called junk into works of sculpture is fascinating," she says.
Where someone else might see trash, she sees something else.
After learning how to metalsmith, she carves these doily-like patterns into the shovels to create delicate designs.
Bizot rarely has a set idea going into a project, she says, and instead lets the process be intuitive. The pieces are completed, she says, simply by working diligently every day.
But even while she makes over the shovel head entirely, she keeps its original form in homage to its practical, humble origins.
Sometimes she works on larger pieces of metal, but the size and shape of the shovels make them perfect for unusual decor items, doubly interesting when they cast intricate shadows on the walls.
The combination of the lacy patterns and the rugged metal shovels makes for an interesting contrast.
Sometimes, Bizot will change the color or the texture of the surface, especially if the metal has been damaged in some way. But other times, she leaves them alone save for her carved designs.
And because Bizot creates the design as she works, no two are ever alike. Some, like the one in the middle, seem impossibly delicate, even though it's made from a pretty tough material!
