Tr a s h to Tr e a s u re H
ull-based artist Jackie Ranney stands out for many reasons: the vibrancy and complexity of her work, her ecological activism, but, perhaps most significantly, her choice of medium. Her pieces might not look like it at first, but they actually consist almost entirely of recycled material, namely marine debris recovered from the beaches and coastal waters of New England. Ranney’s work is motivated by both the beauty found in the oceans and the urgent issue of marine pollution. Art has been important to Ranney for her whole life, as has environmentalism. After attending Walnut Hill School for the Arts, she studied fine art and anthropology at the American University of Paris. She has had careers in painting, sculpting, and design. Around 2019, she had a “lightbulb moment” in which she realized there was a way to combine all of her lifelong passions. “It’s a balance between being an artist and... talking about how important it is to be aware of our environment,” said Ranney.
A lot of Ranney’s works are commissioned, and for her clients they are often very personal. She has, for example, sourced the marine debris in a piece from a client’s local beach. Locale can also simply be a source of inspiration, as can the client’s personal interests and aesthetic preferences. In lieu of outside direction, though, the materials themselves tend to play a role in whichever way the piece goes. Generally, Ranney doesn’t start a project with a clear plan for the finished design; she is willing to see where the creative process takes her. Rather than just “beach trash,” the debris Ranney works with includes the expected single-use plastics and discarded fishing equipment. However, at certain times of year, everything from golf balls to peach pits will wash up en masse. She finds multiple uses for the same objects, such as buoys, repurposing the colorful outside for paintings, and the interior as a carving medium. The only materials that aren’t recovered from the ocean, such as the foam board she uses as her canvas, are recycled scrap that would otherwise be thrown away. Other ways she has found to “upcycle” is to use “reject” paint from hardware stores and plaster that construction companies throw away. Ranney’s goal is to both exclusively use recycled material and to make sure as little of that material as possible is disposed of in the end. Even with her unconventional choice of materials, Ranney’s experience as an artist is apparent in her pieces. Generally, her art doesn’t depict the pollution itself; it evokes parts of the natural beauty that pollution poses a threat to. Some pieces or collections are created primarily with
