Constance Old: Postcards from My Kitchen, 2007-2026.

The Cornwall Library is delighted to announce that, from June 27 through August 22, it will display Constance Old: Notes from My Kitchen, 2007–2026. This exhibit is an installation of collages made from self-adhesive stickers.

The Artist’s reception is Saturday, June 27 from 5 to 7pm. Registration is requested.

For over 20 years, Constance Old has been making artwork with up-cycled paper and plastic. With up-cycling, Old captures the spirit of the 21st century in her work by taking advantage of the excesses of the consumer economy. Human-made castoffs are her inspiration. Combining traditional techniques with contemporary materials, her work is both timeless and an index of our time.

Up-cycling is not the same as recycling. Up-cycling, also called creative reuse, involves transforming discarded objects or waste into new products of higher quality or value. Unlike recycling, which breaks materials down into raw components to be remade, up-cycling simply refashions an existing item, giving it a longer, more useful life while reducing landfill waste and carbon footprint.

The materials in Old’s palette have included 300 tangled pounds of industrial fishing line retrieved from abandoned lobster traps, orange construction fencing, and sales receipts. She says, “Paper and plastic interest me as abundantly available fibers that, with imagination and coaxing, can be made into collages, textile pieces, sculptures, and installations. Living in a time of material excess, it intrigues me to work with traditional techniques that originated from need and a scarcity of materials.”

Old has exhibited most recently at MoCA\CT, The Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art, The Norwalk Arts Space, BoxoPROJECTS, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, Farnsworth Art Museum, and Katonah Museum of Art. She received her MFA from Yale University in Graphic Design, after which she worked as an art director for Martha Stewart Living, and as a freelance book designer. Currently, she commits most of her time to making her own work. Her work is in institutions as well as in corporate and private collections throughout the US.