Upcycled Cardboard Sculptures

Posted on March 7, 2009 by Paula Mitchell Bentley in Art

These amazingly realistic, lifesize sculptures are made with nothing more than cardboard and glue.  Chris Gilmour is an artist whose creativity has been captured by the idea of upcycling.  He literally picks up cardboard boxes from the street and takes them into his studio to be transformed into incredibly beautiful sculptures.

His older pieces involve sculptures made nearly esclusively of “clean cardboard” while some of his newer pieces, such as these globes, use cardboard with the writing and colours intact.  The artist has stated that he likes using cardboard that shows it’s purpose and reveals what it has been before it’s transformation.  These markings on the cardboard become part of the sculpture while at the same time revealing that they may not be the item that they seem to be.

This piece, simply titled “CHURCH” shows how garbage, such as these condom cartons, can be stained with their existence in life.  The interplay between these “stains of life existence” and the subject matter of the sculpture is interesting, to say the least.  Chris Gilmour is definitely helping define the concept of upcycling.  To rescue an item from the landfill and create art with such appeal and value is definitely what upcycling is all about!

Chris Gilmour really enjoys the interplay of the heaviness of actual objects interwined with the lightness of his cardboard reproductions.  The detail and realism of his sculptures has fooled people into thinking that the sculpture may indeed be the real thing.  For example, his recreation of a typewriter has fooled people into actually trying to press the keys to see if it functioned.  When his sculptures are lifted, the gig is definitely up!

The subject matter of the sculptures created range from ordinary pieces of life such as an electric guitar or a coffee pot to recreations of art such as this huge, life size sculpture of Julius Caesar.  He has also done sculptures of cars, a piano being hoisted into the air, a wheel chair,a safe, a violin, busts of famous figures, a dentist chair, a grandfather clock, a microscope and many others.  Check out his website for more amazing images and an interview where some of his intentions and thoughts surrounding his work are revealed.

All photos credited to Marco De Palma.

Art, cardboard, creative, garbage, repurpose, reuse, sculpture, upcycle