Stephanie N. Blahut

Artist Statement

Stephanie N. Blahut, Waveflowers
Mixed Media Artist & Photographer | Chicago, Illinois

My work begins along the shorelines of the Great Lakes, where years of beach cleanups have become both a creative practice and an act of environmental stewardship. I collect broken glass, weathered ceramics, reclaimed metal, driftwood, and other discarded remnants shaped by water, time, and human activity.

Using acrylic, resin, reclaimed materials, and preserved botanicals, I create dimensional, light-reactive works that explore transformation through color, translucence, and texture. Discarded objects become sculptural forms that invite reflection on resilience, memory, and renewal. Rather than concealing the history of these materials, I allow their previous lives to become part of each artwork's story.

Photography is an equally important part of my creative practice. It begins with observation—the simple act of slowing down long enough to notice a bloom, shifting light across the landscape, or an unexpected relationship between color and place. Many of these moments later influence my mixed media work, creating an ongoing dialogue between image and object, documentation and transformation.

Waveflowers is more than an art practice—it is a philosophy of appreciation and reclamation . It invites viewers to reconsider the human footprint we leave on the natural world and the hidden potential within what we discard. By reclaiming discarded materials and giving them new life through art, I hope to encourage thoughtful stewardship of the places we share and to remind viewers that even what has been forgotten can become something meaningful again.