SPOTLIGHT ARTIST Larry Agnello
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- March 31, 2017
- Thalo Team
Thalo loves to promote artists and each month we spotlight a member of our community!
This month we are pleased to have Larry Agnello as the thalo Spotlight Artist for April!
thalo Team: Can you give an "elevator pitch" of your work?
Larry Agnello: My work consists of taking broken or discarded objects from the past and assembling them to create something new, unique, and lasting. The objects I choose are very important, I look for interesting vintage or antique parts, finding parts that work well together is the key. To describe my work, I created the word “Assemblique" by combining the words "Assemblage" and "Antique".
TT: Is there a common theme throughout your work? Is there something you want your artwork to convey to people who see it?
LA: It seems like everything made these days is plastic and disposable. It's sad, there’s no quality anymore, no value to objects. My work tries to remind people that not everything has to be thrown away, things can be re-used, repurposed.
"Ann Dromeda" 24"W x 72"H x 24"D, is made from a vintage fiberglass mannequin, antique sewing machine parts, antique adding machine parts, antique typewriter parts, vintage camera lenses, antique microscope lenses, vintage electronics, vintage gauges, and more.
TT: Which artists do you feel have influenced your art the most?
LA: Not one particular artist. My work is influenced most by a trip I took to Africa back in 1990. I saw so many beautiful masks and carvings, and many were decorated with ordinary found objects, old rusty nails, bottle caps, scraps of cloth. Whatever the artist had available. It fascinated me.
TT: How has your work (or technique) changed over time?
LA: I hope my work has become more cohesive, I think it succeeds when people see the finished piece first before they realize it's made up of old broken parts. And my work changes depending on what I have available as well. A friend donated bins full of vintage electronic parts recently, so those are finding their way into my pieces.
"Black Forest Buddha" 10"W x 14"H x 5"D, is made from antique clock parts, with vintage 8mm movie camera turret lenses, antique Italian brass chandelier parts, a very large antique copper soldering iron, small antique pocket watch gears, and hand carved wood rabbit and bird from an antique black forest cuckoo clock.
TT: How do you promote yourself and your art?
LA: Social media, of course, Instagram, FB, Pinterest. And of course Thalo.com! Weekend art fairs give me some exposure as well.
TT: What project are you working on currently? What are you most looking forward to with your work this year?
LA: I'm currently working on a series of "Weird Fishes", using mainly hundreds of ceramic disk capacitors and carbon comp resistors. They were parts used in old radios and T.V.s and the fins for these fish are made from antique adding machine and typewriter keys.
"Cavalique" 24″ Wingspan, 24″ Tall x 15″ Long
It is made from, Wood Horse, Four Antique Claw&Ball Feet, Antique Sewing Machine Parts,Vintage Brass Eagle Wings, Two Vintage Gauges, Antique Typewriter Parts, Antique Adding Machine parts, Two Antique National Cash Register Keys, Two Vintage Camera Lenses, Two Antique Glass Indicator Lights, Part from a Vintage Anniversary Clock, Misc Antique Brass Decorative Parts, Misc Other Found Objects
TT: What is your favorite medium to work with, or what medium brings you the most satisfaction to use?
LA: For me the word "medium" might refer to what material or part I'm using. If a painter chooses between oil or acrylic, I choose between clock gears or typewriter keys. I think opening up an old 1920's adding machine and using all the hundreds of parts inside is currently my favorite medium.
TT: What would you consider to be your "biggest achievement" with your work thus far?
LA: I don't really look for "achievement" with my work, it’s really more of my therapy. I guess to me the biggest achievement was developing something that is my own unique style, something I never found when I was painting.
“Rest My Chemistry” 11″W x 20″H x 5″D
List of Materials: Wood Dragon Cutout, Vintage Ceramic Disc Capacitors, Metal Spring Clips from a 1920 Comptometer Adding Machine, Vintage Camera Lens, Vintage Camera Viewfinder, Antique Clock Spring, 3 Gears from a 1920 Comptometer Adding Machine, Carved Wood Base
TT: What was your first work of art that you were proud of? Where is it now?
LA: "Ann Dromeda" might not be the first work I was proud of, but she's the one I'm most proud of. I started with a life size vintage mannequin, cut out portions of the fiberglass, and constructed an internal skeleton with vintage sewing machine, typewriter, and other antique machine parts. She currently resides on an estate in Indianapolis, poolside.
TT: Do you take commissions?
LA: Yes, I do commissions, and the most rewarding are the ones where someone will see my work, realize they have a garage full of parts that are just wasting away, and ask me to put them to good use. I recently created two masks for a woman whose father had recently passed away, he had owned a business phone company back in the 80s, and her garage was full of old phone parts he left behind.
“Green, Brown, Hazel, & Little Bits of the Universe” 10″W x 24″H x 5″D
Carved Wood Seahorse, antique typewriter parts, vintage adding machine parts, antique clock parts, vintage camera viewfinders, misc. antique brass parts, abalone shell base
TT: What do you do when you aren't working on artwork? What are some of your hobbies/passions other than art-making?
LA: I'm working on restoring an old Victorian farm house from 1910, that's a lot of work, it keeps me busy. One of the barns in the back is my studio, its perfect.
TT: More of Larry Agnello's work can be found in the links below:
web site: www.assemblique.com
Instagram: @assemblique
Facebook: www.facebook.com/assemblique
Check out Larry Agnello's profile on thalo to read more!
