This excerpt is from a Sculpture Magazine interview. Ann Landi asks artist Bonnie Collura, “How did you go from traditional welding to working with so many diverse materials?”

I love Bonnie’s explanation.

“That was … a result of good teaching. I was a real metal head. I learned how to weld at VCU. When I was a junior, one of my teachers said, ‘You’re getting pretty close to graduating, you need to learn how to build in other ways because you might not have the money to work with metals.’ I thought I should follow that advice, so I ventured into the hardware store and bought what I could afford—sheets of polystyrene foam. I cut it thin with a bandsaw and tried to bend it just as one would heat-form steel. Instead of welding, I used duct tape to hold it all together. That helped me become more autonomous because I could build within my means, which has been a godsend when I’ve been low on funds, and it helps when I have to teach students how to build something ambitious without spending a lot of money.”

Build within your means. Be ambitious amidst constraint. Find a way.

Such good lessons. Thanks, Bonnie.