
Lens -Chehalis Hegner
Chehalis Hegner
Artist Residency
February – March 2020
This residency offered me the opportunity to do something purely sculptural and not designed, having no function. This is difficult coming from my design background, where I am always creating a chair, basket, or specific object. Changed my thought patterns that what I created didn’t necessarily have to have a function, it could just be cool. It could just be interesting and thought-provoking.
Utilizing obsolete material in creative ways is a really powerful story. The average person has never been exposed to anything like some of these artworks. It challenges material perceptions.
These pieces can stand alone in a gallery on a pedestal in a white room and are as beautiful as pure sculpture as collectible design. It highlights materiality and the transformation possible for repurposing recycled plastic.
“I have a new respect and deeper understanding of how things
are made. Witnessing the factory at work firsthand, now knowing that there is a person at each machine that produces the plastic objects and consumer goods in our lives.”



L to R:
‘Portrait of the Thin Man’ recycled wood and plastic purging with metal wire mixed media | Photographer Chehalis Hegner| Experimental mixed media
Works and Links
Website: https://www.chehalishegner.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chehalishegner/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chehalis.hegner
In the news|PR that mention Residency and have example of upcycled plastic works:
https://ayellowroseproject.com/chehalis-deane-hegner
Over one hundred women across the United States were invited to join in a photographic collaboration, A Yellow Rose Project. These photographers were asked to make work in response, reflection, or reaction to the
ratification of the 19th Amendment. The goal of this project was to provide a focal point and platform for image makers to share contemporary viewpoints as we approach the centennial of this event, to gain a deeper
understanding of American history and culture, to build a bridge from the past to the present and future.
These two works in the Yellow Rose Project and utilize upcycled plastic from M4.
Left Image: Martha Coffin Write
Right Image: Mary Ann Mclintock
https://www.moldmakingtechnology.com/news/matrix4-announces-second-resident-artist