Lost Count

food and non-food paperboard packaging, on dental appointment reminder postcard, 9" x 7" x 1" (framed), 2017

Appropriating words and images from product packaging, I captured reasons for loving someone. Losing count, I ended up with 20, give or take. Evidenced by small cartoon teeth, the base was a reminder card from my dentist (the top ten reasons patients miss their appointments).

I make art from cast-off materials: trash; recyclable, found, salvaged items; even remnants of my own life are accumulated, cleaned and inventoried. An intentional, organized collector, I use what our culture typically discards.

Handling my materials, I find beauty and am inspired to transform, combining them to illustrate intimate, ironic and ideological stories. My 3D assemblages, mosaic-like artworks, faux and real quilts elevate the cast-off materials.

In my life and in my practice, more is more. While I sometimes think of myself as an organized hoarder, my process celebrates the ordinary and my aesthetic is about living lightly on the planet.

Born in Ohio, raised in the Rockies, Cheri Kopp's interest in cast-off materials started in eighth grade with a mosaic made from broken mirror. She honed craft and fiber skills while pursuing a career in business, technology and education, eventually moving to Seattle.

Aware of the waste created by her household, she began saving objects that would otherwise become trash and, in 2009, returned to her original path.

Currently based in Port Townsend and Shoreline, Cheri is a graduate of Artist Trust's EDGE program; her artworks and quilts have been exhibited in numerous curated and juried shows in Washington State.