Upcycling secondhand doors into salvage art
Can functional items be turned into fine art? That’s the challenge that was posed to art students at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.
Brian Davis, adjunct professor of sculpture, is inspired by the vision and perspective that comes from watching students solve problems creatively and make the most of sustainably sourced materials, and this project was no exception. He challenged his advanced sculpture students to use salvaged wood doors provided via a materials grant from Community Forklift as the foundation for a sculpture project.
“Each student would get one door and transform that door into a new form, playing on the inherent metaphorical properties of a door and ‘doorness,’” explains Davis.
The only thing these doors had in common was their construction — wood. Beyond that, Davis noted that size, look, or condition didn’t matter. All he wanted was the mass of material to give the students a jumping off point and strong base.
Each student viewed the door through a unique lens, informed by their life experiences and perspective.
A Tool for Movement
Alexandra Belk took the original structure of the door and rearranged it into another architecturally-inspired form. She saw the door as an opportunity to create steps, which, while they serve a different purpose, still serve as a tool for movement and getting one from place to the next.
A Marker of Place
Two students, Jennifer Hayes and Justin Serrano, both saw the doors as a marker of place. They took inspiration from the solid wood door’s sense of being built into a specific spot. They both used tangible, three-dimensional relief to evoke that geographic place. Hayes added furniture legs to a sculpture that resembles the ups and downs of the natural landscape. Serrano took cues from relief maps while exploring the use of a CNC router.
A Door as a Protector
A door is often a physical barrier between the inside and outside world, serving as a protector. Both Aidan Tingen and Deniesha Tyler explored this protective aspect. Tyler marred the surface of the door with holes, evoking projectiles and bullets, but the symbolism is in its strength, not the destruction. The door still stands as a scarred monument to survival. Meanwhile, Tingen reconfigured his door to form the centuries-old silhouette of a shield, converting a tool for passage into a tool for protection.
A Dynamic Portal
Carla Vasquez maintained the door’s integrity as a pass-through, but rather than having it function as a straightforward passage, she turned it into a dynamic portal. She sliced apart the door into segments, creating a kinetic, interactive sculpture. It’s full of movement and life, evoking a portal that gives the door a transformative meaning.
Community Building Blocks grants enable schools, nonprofits, and community groups across the DC metro area to bring their projects to life. If your group or organization has a project that could benefit from a CBB grant, visit our website for more information and to apply. We would love to hear about your work and how you are making an impact on the world around you!
Every time you donate or shop at Community Forklift, you’re helping us lift up local communities through reuse. We turn the construction waste stream into a resource stream for communities in the DC region – by keeping perfectly good items out of the landfill, preserving historical materials, providing low-cost building supplies, and creating local green jobs.