Up-cycled Sneaker Sculptures by Gabriel DiShaw
on 4/4/11
Gabriel DiShaw's self titled 'Junk Art' is made from technological trash we would normally throw out. Something that caught The Trend Boutique's attention was DiShaw's current obsession with sneakers, from which he came up with 'Sneaker Sculptures'. Although these sculptures have been around for a while they make a great artistic reference point that we feel fits in with our Spring Summer 2012 'Spirited' trend & how we are at looking to the younger digital generation for visual & aesthetic codes.
'Dunks', as part of the Sneaker Series Sculpture collection by Gabriel DiShaw.
In these modern times, technology is always being improved; always being replaced. As a result, DiShaw is never short of materials for his lastest project, the Sneaker Series.
DiShaw says of the origins of the Sneaker Series: "It really started from a Dunk that I had taken apart, it was in my personal collection, and it was brand new. I just destroyed it, took it apart." He describes his sculptures as, "really kind of crude and really kind of abstract."
"For the next one I attatched a whole bunch of componants to it, [but] I still felt like it was almost cheating. So, then I just made a free-standing version and that's the first one I actually built from the floor up, meaning the midsole, everything. That was the 'Junk Dunk'."
'Blazer Pentium 1.0' by Gabriel DiShaw
Gabriel DiShaw has been working at U.S. sports retailer 'Finish Line' for around 8 years, and has been promoted to Regional Trainer. Along with his own enthusuasm for sneakers, he is more than qualified to create art based on cult sports footwear. A self-proclaimed "sneaker head", DiShaw says "I love shoes and because of my job, I'm surrounded by shoes every single day, so it's kind of in my thought process. [It] felt natural for me to approach shoes as a medium."
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Up-cycled 'Air Max' by Gabriel DiShaw
Despite the clarity of his vision, junk-into-sculpture, DiShaw remains unsatisfied. "I want it to be literally-you're almost mistaking the sculpture for a shoe." And what of future projects? "I really want to see myself getting more mechanical; maybe incorporating small componants that move, but that's kind of down the road."
We always tend to look at traditional materials & products, such as textiles, plastic bags and food for recycling, but tend to forget in this digital age with its built in obsolence and love of the latest gadget that this technology needs to be recycled too. The Trend Boutique look forward to seeing what Gabriel DiShaw does next.
