Thomas Deininger Turns Waste & Doom Into Wildlife Art

Instead of bemoaning species collapse, Rhode Island artist Deininger fashions sculptures of animals from garbage, with a unique perspective

  • By Jennifer Wehunt // Art by Thomas Deininger
  • Conservation
  • Dec 18, 2024

“IF YOU LOSE YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR, THAT’S IT. IT’S OVER,” says Thomas Deininger, the Rhode Island artist behind what he calls “detritus mosaics”: sculptures that, head-on, read as wildlife but from other perspectives dissolve into anarchy. Finding comedy in the perverse, including some non-PG pairings, is a necessary part of the process for Deininger, who collects his materials from beach cleanups, garage sales—anything that can’t be recycled or composted. His “Ivory-Billed Woodpecker” (above, front and side views), for example, features cheeky pop culture references: a “Toy Story” Woody action figure, a bendy Woody Woodpecker. “It’s silly to get euphoric over a piece of garbage—I’m a grown man—but this is my life now,” Deininger says. The alternative is just too bleak, he explains, citing the woodpecker’s extinction due to deforestation, habitat loss and the desirability of its feathers. Deininger calls it “a canary in the coal mine for all kinds of wildlife. At some point, the whole thing collapses.” Hence his intentional light-handedness. “There’s a catharsis to it,” he says. “Ordinarily, this would bum me out, but when I can see a different end for all this stuff, it gives a point to it.” See more of Deininger's artwork.


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