assemblages from found objects
San Miguel de Allende, México
My journey with objects began the moment I encountered the dreamlike boxes of Joseph Cornell. Something deep within me stirred and I thought, that’s for me.
While my materials may be humble, the themes are not. Many of my assemblages speak to the deeper struggles of our shared humanity—shining a light on histories and realities often ignored or forgotten. Some works confront the horrors of slavery in the United States, others give voice to the unhoused, the hungry, the marginalized. Through these pieces, I aim to create beauty, and to bear witness—to honor the dignity, resilience, and pain of those too often overlooked.
For over two decades, I’ve been captivated by the quiet poetry of forgotten things—vintage utensils, rusted nails, broken dolls, battered tin cans, weathered wood. Objects discarded by the world, yet still holding stories, still whispering possibility.
These bits and pieces, saved from the flooded, choked landfills, find new life in my assemblages.
Each piece I create is a meditation on a quiet act of environmental rebellion—honoring the beauty in the discarded; the potential in what’s been left behind.
I believe art can be a tool for reimagining the world—both aesthetically, and ethically. My work is a love letter to sustainability, a call to notice, to care, to restore.
This art practice, which I lovingly call my vocation, keeps me up at night—inspired, alive, grateful.
And always, eternal thanks to my love, Eli Hans—my favorite objet trouvé.
Thank you for taking the time to explore my work.
— Joseph Bennett
catalogue
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