Artist’s Statement My interest in creating treasures from trash started in 8th grade when I created a mosaic out of leftover bits of broken mirror from the local Riverton, Wyoming glass shop. That image of a sailboat on turbulent seas was selected as art project of the year. That was my first show (it hung in the school library for years) and my first sale. For years, I’ve accumulated stuff that might otherwise become garbage. It started with plastic bottle caps and lids and my general annoyance that the vessels could be recycled, but not the tops. I began saving with visions of art cars dancing in my head. Those visions led to others (no art car, yet) – they now come frequently, often with titles and stories. My stash of materials has grown to include many other forms of plastic, wood, metal, glass, paper, fabric, rubber, plant material, electronica, etc. The works that emerge are mixed media mosaics and assemblages that share a 3D sculptural quality and, usually, have some underlying message. This isn’t a far cry from my quilting past of telling stories with fabric where the more different fabrics, the better! As I continue to explore my identity as an artist, my esthetic is becoming clearer – it’s about living lightly on the planet. I’m also compelled to express my ideological voice. I’m slowly realizing many of my visions. Background Information: Cheri Kopp’s artwork and quilts have been exhibited in numerous group shows in Western Washington. Her works incorporating trash have been selected for several juried recycled art shows. You Are What You Eat received the Juror’s Choice Award in the 2008 Salvage Art Contest at Second Use Building Supplies. Her quilts, Got Any Paisley? Go Fish and Every Boy Should Have a Little Pink in his Life and assemblage Seattle’s Center: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle have received viewer’s choice awards in local shows. Cheri Kopp was born in Athens, Ohio in 1960 and currently resides in Seattle, Washington. A (mostly) self-taught artist, she credits her junior high school art teacher with inspiring her spark to create and her supportive husband for reigniting that fire in her as an adult.