Carolina Fontoura Alzaga upcycles bicycles to make chandeliers

How goth is this – black chandeliers made from bicycle chains.  The talented artist is Carolina Fontoura Alzaga.  She is working on a series of sculptures, called Connect, made from recycled bicycle parts. Connect draws inspiration from Victorian chandeliers, DIY and bike culture.

Alzaga sees “the traditional chandelier … as a bourgeois commodity and the bicycle parts as a symbol for self-propelled movement. These subversive objects challenge the aesthetics of wealth by visually contrasting the classic elegance of the candelabrum with the newfound elegance of discarded, mechanical bicycle parts.”

This is a very creative example of upcycling done right.

Carolina Fontoura Alzaga is a Mexican-Brazilian multidisciplinary artist residing in Denver, LA, and Mexico. She works in a variety of mediums such as sculpture, painting, photography, fashion and jewelry design. Alzaga’s work reflects her hybrid identity, global perspective and socio-political interests.

*Photos courtesy of Carolina Fontoura Alzaga.

Click here for 2 excellent “how-to” books on upcycling  —

1. 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse: Remake, Restyle, Recycle, Renew (1000 Series) by Jason Thompson.

2. Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials by Jeannine Stein.

Click here for a book discussing why we need to eliminate the concept of waste altogether: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by McDonough and Braungart.