Shana Radashaw / Jed Swanson
The guitars in this collection are beyond repair, for various reasons. Each guitar is named after the person who gave up their battered, non-working instrument, for art. It is also a rendering of their eyeball.
We take broken, non-functional musical instruments, repair any physical damage, paint the design and build upon that with our version of mosaic using broken mirror, beads, glass, broken jewelry, old coins, and really anything that feels right.
This project started years ago, when a total stranger gave me a beautiful guitar. I practiced on it so much that I eventually wore it out. Instead of getting rid of the guitar, my talented boyfriend and I put our skills together and made “Roy”, as a tribute to the stranger that gave me the tools to learn how to rock.
Turns out, a lot of people have a cherished but broken instrument stored somewhere, just waiting for a second life. We are attempting to render in visual beauty the music that these instruments once created.