Stacey Lee Webber is the artist behind this collection of power tools created with copper pennies. The project is titled ‘Craftsmen Collection: Power Tools’ and each copper sculpture is true to size and entirely hollow. The power tools are recreated in copper pennies, including the cord and plug. The ghostlike representations of the original tools question the value of labor and time inherent in the object. Sculptures from this series have been collected by the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton MA.
As a designer and maker, investigating a variety of raw materials and pushing their intrinsic limitations to the point of beauty and/or disaster is continually enthralling. I cherish working with found materials whose history is physically evident. Imagine a copper penny lying on a sewer grate. On that stamped coin there are dents, scratches, a dull patina, and a worn down Abraham Lincoln. Each of these inconsistencies is evidence that it has been passed through the hands of countless people and with each irregularity, it furthers the importance of its history. When that penny is picked up and skillfully crafted into jewelry or sculpture the new object is layered with rich stories of struggle and triumph.
Via: Stacey Lee Webber