Conversation with Swoon aka Caledonia Curry

Beyond Plastics Art and Activism Panel

In this episode, I'm sharing a recording of a live panel event I hosted at MAPSpace gallery during Repurposer Collective's second annual exhibit.  I'm joined by two incredible artists, Anne Percoco and Cindy Pease Roe, for a conversation about their practices transforming found materials and waste into compelling works of art.  Anne shares projects ranging from a sculpture made of over a thousand water bottles on a sacred Indian river, to street trash shaped into oysters and leaves. Cindy talks about her 15 years working with marine debris — including a 14-foot great white shark installed at Cape Cod — and her nonprofit UpSculpt, which brings ocean plastic education into schools.  Facilitated by Beyond Plastics, we cover everything from storage and cleaning techniques to health precautions, the role of artists in addressing climate change, and what it really feels like to pick up trash in public. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did! https://www.cindypeaseroe.com/ [https://www.cindypeaseroe.com/] https://annepercoco.carbonmade.com/ [https://annepercoco.carbonmade.com/] https://www.beyondplastics.org/  https://www.upsculpt.com/ [https://www.upsculpt.com/] https://www.rebeccasolnit.net/ This podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART. If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist.  Music theme by RC Guida Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com [http://www.artbynatalya.com] Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com [http://www.repurposercollective.com] Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ [https://www.ecoloop.art/]

Conversation with Repurposer Collective members. Part 2

Currents of Connection: How Art, Water, and Community Weave a 32-Foot Tapestry of Unity Dive into the inspiring story behind Currents of Connection—a breathtaking 32-foot collaborative tapestry created by the Repurposer Collective. In this episode of Salvage, artists share their personal journeys of transforming NASA ocean current maps and repurposed materials into a stunning, unified artwork. From the thrill of creative problem-solving to the joy of collective creation, discover how this project celebrates connection, sustainability, and the elemental power of water. Hear firsthand how each artist’s unique voice harmonizes into a powerful statement about community, creativity, and our shared planet. Listen now and explore the beauty of art that binds us all. This podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART. If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist.  Music theme by RC Guida Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com [http://www.artbynatalya.com] Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com [http://www.repurposercollective.com] Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ [https://www.ecoloop.art/]

Conversation with Swoon aka Caledonia Curry

Please enjoy my conversation with Caledonia Curry aka Swoon. This is a warm, wide-ranging conversation Callie talks about her journey from street art and wheat-paste portraits to massive collaborative installations built from salvaged materials – including the famous floating rafts seen at the Brooklyn Museum. She shares how reuse has been central to her practice from the start, driven by environmental awareness and a love of found materials. The conversation also touches on her humanitarian work in Haiti, the tension between solo and collaborative creating, her deep connection to the ocean, and her current shift toward storytelling, puppetry, and stop-motion animation. https://swoonstudio.org/ [https://swoonstudio.org/] https://www.uncsa.edu/kenan/artist-as-leader/caledonia-curry.aspx [https://www.uncsa.edu/kenan/artist-as-leader/caledonia-curry.aspx]  https://www.heliotropefoundation.org/ [https://www.heliotropefoundation.org/]  https://musicboxvillage.com/ [https://musicboxvillage.com/] TEDxBrooklyn 2010 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5298KZuW_JE [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5298KZuW_JE] Finding Good in Our Own Limitations, TEDxPittsburghWomen 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUjIlXmXptU [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUjIlXmXptU]  Swimming Cities of Serenissima - Empire Me https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5dwosy [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5dwosy]  https://www.faile.net/ [https://www.faile.net/] https://swoonstudio.org/#/submergedmotherlands/ [https://swoonstudio.org/#/submergedmotherlands/] https://deitch.com/ [https://deitch.com/] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Dark_Dark [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Dark_Dark] https://riversofsteel.com/attractions/carrie-furnaces/ [https://riversofsteel.com/attractions/carrie-furnaces/] This podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART. If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist.  Music theme by RC Guida Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com [http://www.artbynatalya.com] Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com [http://www.repurposercollective.com] Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ [https://www.ecoloop.art/]

Conversation with Amy Meissner

What do a penny in a nightlight, a suitcase of family mending, and 500+ women named "Unknown" have in common?  Anchorage artist Amy Meissner joins the Salvage podcast to talk about turning inherited textiles into powerful art, teaching repair as self-care, and why the thing spontaneously combusting in her house was her. This conversation will make you want to dig out your mending pile immediately.  https://www.amymeissner.com/ [https://www.amymeissner.com/] https://www.instagram.com/amymeissnerartist [https://www.instagram.com/amymeissnerartist]  https://dairybarn.org/quilt-national-archive-history-2/ [https://dairybarn.org/quilt-national-archive-history-2/] https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/ [https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/] https://momentummag.com/bike-pogies-101-elevate-your-winter-bicycling-game/ [https://momentummag.com/bike-pogies-101-elevate-your-winter-bicycling-game/]  This podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART. If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist.  Music theme by RC Guida Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com [http://www.artbynatalya.com] Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com [http://www.repurposercollective.com] Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ [https://www.ecoloop.art/]

Conversations with Repurposer Collective members. Part 1.

What happens when 24 artists say yes to a shared prompt… and trust the current? 🌊 This episode of Salvage kicks off a special multi-part series about Currents of Connection — a 32-foot collaborative artwork stitched, collaged, painted, and assembled by members of the Repurposer Collective. We talk about:  • receiving a single block and trusting the whole  • working with limits, deadlines, and doubt  • plastic, paper, fabric, dryer sheets, and “trash” as material  • collaboration as both method and message Every stitch feeds the wave.  Every voice matters.  Just like water itself. 🎧 Listen to Part 1 wherever you get your podcasts  📺 Full visual episode on YouTube (trust me — this one’s worth seeing) https://www.repurposercollective.com/ [https://www.repurposercollective.com/] https://www.repurposercollective.com/currents-of-connection [https://www.repurposercollective.com/currents-of-connection] Cathy Mitchell https://www.instagram.com/old_doxie [https://www.instagram.com/old_doxie?igsh=djNlNWdkcTF6NTJm] Sharon Williams https://www.instagram.com/williamssharoneco [https://www.instagram.com/williamssharoneco] Ellen November http://ellennovember.com [http://ellennovember.com] https://www.instagram.com/ellennovemberfiberart [https://www.instagram.com/ellennovemberfiberart]  Ana Szilagyi http://www.anaszilagyi.com/ [http://www.anaszilagyi.com/] https://www.instagram.com/anaszilagyi [https://www.instagram.com/anaszilagyi] Marsha Borden http://www.marshaborden.com [http://www.marshaborden.com] https://www.instagram.com/marshamakes [https://www.instagram.com/marshamakes] This podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART. If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist.  Music theme by RC Guida Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com [http://www.artbynatalya.com] Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com [http://www.repurposercollective.com] Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ [https://www.ecoloop.art/]