Photo by Jacqui South. Eric Celarier uses circuit boards to create the tapestries in his "Wasteland

Published on: Thursday, December 15, 2011

By Wanda Jackson

Artist Eric Celarier uses found objects to create science fiction-type creatures and discarded circuit boards to produce impractical quilts.

Celarier’s work is being featured in an exhibit titled “Found-Object Sculptures and Tapestries” through Jan. 8 at the art gallery in the Greenbelt Community Center, located at 15 Crescent Road in Greenbelt. The exhibit features 14 of Celarier’s works.

“I have created two collections that are related, but distinct, in their approaches to contemporary waste,” Celarier said in an artist statement. “The ‘Alternative Evolution Series’ (sculptures) portrays a world whose history is, and has been inextricably altered by human existence, while the ‘Wasteland Series’ (tapestries) demonstrates the hidden aesthetics and disposal issues of electronic waste.

“Both sets of work are cautionary, yet not prescriptive or didactic. I see these works as dealing with difficult problems with no common sense solutions.”

Celarier uses biological classifications to name his sculptures. “Alatum Ampulla” (winged bulb) looks like early flying machines sketched in Leonardo da Vinci’s manuscripts. Viewers will want to get close to see the parts that Celarier has transformed from what we leave behind in the environment.

His tapestries defy scale, offering what some viewers interpret as an aerial view of a metropolis or microbial structures.

Celarier uses traditional American scrap quilting techniques. He cuts, binds and frames computer and audio-visual equipment circuits into large and small-scale formats. Leather frames border circuit boards, then connect to each other. His large works can be examined closely for their detail or scanned as a whole for their dramatic composition.

Celarier, who lives in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, and Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati. He currently teaches and creates art in Montgomery County. In conjunction with his current exhibition, Celarier will conduct workshops with students at Greenbelt Middle School.

For additional details about Celarier’s exhibit, call the Greenbelt Community Center at 240-542-2057 or visit www.greenbeltmd.gov/arts.