Early in my young career as an artist I would purchase pre-stretched and primed canvases. One day I decided to increase the volume of my work, so I went out and purchased six of these canvases in various sizes. When I got back to my studio I unwrapped each one canvas from its plastic shrink-wrap. All of the plastic wrap ended up in a pile in the corner and were eventually rolled into a large ball. For some reason, as I type this article, I am almost embarrassed about how this large ball of plastic made me feel.
120 – 62″ x 28″ – Recycled mixed media on sailboat sail
It made me feel sick to my stomach. It’s funny that we as humans are, for whatever reason, convinced by society, not to care about plastic waste and that ‘use once’ plastics are a necessity for a life of convince. Here I am producing such a huge amount of unnecessary plastic waste that will forever be a part of my carbon footprint. It was at that moment, as I stood there staring at that ball of hideous plastic on the floor, that I decided that I never want to feel like that again. This forever changed me as an artist.
Great Plains – Great Plains – 54″ x 54″ Recycled/reclaimed paint on sailboat sail (sailcloth) on a handmade frame
At the time of my realization, that I will become an artist that speaks for the environment, I lived in a high-rise condo building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. On the ground floor of this building there was a large garbage room where residents can drop off large household items that are no longer desirable, leftover cans of paint, and other larger items that they couldn’t stuff down their floor’s designated garbage chute. By the end of every month there was a large pile of discarded, cheap, particleboard furniture and old appliances. Amongst the heap of briefly used, almost new, yet broken items, I found a couch and a couple of half used cans of paint. I began the task of disassembling the couch to reclaim its wooden frame and removing all of the leather and ‘pleather’ that I would later sew back together as a stand-in for canvas. This was my first recycled art project.
The Crossing – – 62″ x 28″ – Recycled mixed media on sailboat sail
As of February 2015, I am now painting with and on 100% recycled materials. The frames, whenever possible are also constructed from reclaimed wood. This year I have had the good fortune of developing a relationship with the paint recycling company, Loop Paint, who generously provides me with all the paint for my projects. All of the material that I paint on is reclaimed, mainly sailboat sails (sailcloth).
Sailcloth was traditionally made from linen, cotton or hemp, typically in the form of canvas, though modern sails are rarely made from these biodegradable materials. Most sails are now made from synthetic fibres like low-cost nylon, polyester or carbon fibres. Because of sailcloth’s synthetic nature, it is an ideal candidate for repurposing. I am not a sailor, so I cannot reduce the number of sails I go through and certainly do not have any control over the sails that are produced, though I can reuse what others no longer have a need for and certainly recycle whatever is left after that.
Early Season – 42″ x 19″ Recycled mixed media on reclaimed sailboat sail (sailcloth)
I believe that everyone needs to take a step back and evaluate every decision that impacts the health of our planet. We need to look at what we as a human race are doing as a whole and what we can do to change things for the better. We need to own our mistakes, past and present and move forward. We need to think about long term environmental preservation, and not short term financial profits. We are in this together and need to protect the life on this planet, especially the life that cannot protect itself.
Through the Trees – 62″ x 28″ – Recycled mixed media on sailboat sail
My goal is for my work to inspire others and for it to become a symbol of change.
Image Credits
All Images Are © Robert Slivchak
Robert Slivchak Artist Bio
One of my biggest inspirations for pursuing a career in fine art is my father. At a young age I was always fascinated with his ability to work with any medium and his gift of being able to transform it into something beautiful. His encouragement to express myself artistically at a young age was key to my artistic development.
I am an abstract artist whose work does not depart from representational accuracy, but by the climate that surrounds me and my painting process. I use thick and thin layers of acrylic paint, applied using palette knives, rags, sponges and brushes, pulling back and removing portions of each layer until the result is something that’s synchronized with what I am feeling.
My most recent works reflect two sides of urban life. I love the contrasts between grunge and modern style with my paintings representing the grunge. I want to drift away from clean, sharp, calculated lines and tell a story with layers of roughly removed colours that show history, like layers of paint peeling on the exterior walls of an old building, revealing its storied past.
Whenever possible, I like to reclaim/harvest waste materials, like wood and paint when creating a new piece. I think that it is everyone’s social and environmental responsibility to create less waste. More often than not, I build my own frames, stretch my own canvas and prime the canvas with recycled paint. I also offer custom creations to compliment each client’s colour palette. Reuse, reduce and recycle.
Blog / Website: Slivchak Fine Art – Photography
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- Life of the Water – 30″ x 40″ Mixed media on canvas
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- Winter Blues – 34.5″ x 69″ Mixed media on canvas
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- Palette Knife – Old iPad case and reclaimed wood doweling
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