Ediger brings Environmental Exposure to Carriage Factory Art Gallery

Glen Ediger has gone by many monikers in his career – inventor, designer, author, car enthusiast and now artist.

Ediger’s latest creative venture has been a cooperative effort with Mother Nature. Ediger takes different types of metals and masks them with different natural elements or other metal shapes, sets them outside to be exposed to the elements and lets nature take its course. Some pieces are left outside for just a few weeks and others for over a year. The results are stunning and as varied as the weather in Kansas.

Ediger first got the idea when he saw a rusting car that had patterns left on the metal from rusting cans and thought “Could this be art?”

Ediger’s philosophy about his environmental art is “Everything we do leaves an impression. Our actions, whether intended or not, create an effect on our environment and on our relationships. My art-form is an expression of that effect, it intends to ‘expose’ both literally and figuratively the effects of our actions, by creating a patina, with rust and decay on to the medium, literally creating the art on the exposed material.”

Landscapes are the focus of much of Ediger’s work but through experimentation using different metals, where he places the pieces to be exposed – close to a tree, in direct sun, etc. – and how long the piece is exposed, he is able to achieve a variety of effects.

“Sometimes, the hardest thing is deciding when to bring the piece in,” Ediger said.

Once he brings a piece in from the exposed elements, he cleans it by using compressed air to remove any debris, seals the metal and then mounts, mats and frames the pieces using reclaimed lumber.

Forty of Ediger’s metalwork pieces are part of his upcoming show “Environmental Exposure” at Carriage Factory Art Gallery May 29-July 16. The show will kick off with three meet and greet events at the gallery – 6-8 p.m. Friday May 28, 6-8 p.m. Saturday, May 29 and 1-3 p.m. Sunday, May 30.

More information about the show can be seen at carriagefactorygallery.com, including a video of Ediger discussing his process and a visual catalog for the show.