BEST FRIENDS

Roberta Polton

For thirty years, I taught Pre K in the Bloomfield School System. Arts education was always part of the curriculum and a part of my classroom experience that gave me satisfaction.

My art projects centered around activities that the children and I enjoyed in the classroom. Once I retired, I had time to explore and expand my love of collage for myself. I began to take art classes, experiment with different forms and actively become part of a growing arts community. About ten years ago, my work started to evolve. I lost my fascination with paper and I began to develop a unique and personal style using found objects.

The work I am submitting today is characterized by three dimensional objects that have been repurposed in my art work as BEST FRIENDS. My style is somewhat unusual. More specifically, I can often be found scouring the neighborhood streets, train tracks, industrial sites — searching for twisted wire, metal, broken toys, scraps of wood and plastic.

I reach for and gather objects that people have overlooked, forgotten, or discarded. I see the parts of faces, bodies and backgrounds in order to shape them into something that I can share. I examine my finds slowly moving them from hand to hand, letting my fingers trace over the edges. I look for objects that speak to me and tell me about their possibilities.

As I adhere these treasures to a canvas background, I know that they will tell a new story and bring order and art out of chaos and become BEST FRIENDS.