ROCKPORT, Maine — For the entire month of December, artist André Benoit’s work is on display at the Rockport Public Library.
Walking past the exhibit on the “Art Wall” on the library’s lower level, you’ll find sculptures from whimsical animals to scenes by the ocean.
“We are thrilled to be hosting a show of art by André Benoit. We rotate out to different artists every month and André’s just feels really special,” Julia Pierce, assistant director of the Rockport Public Library, said.
At first, it isn’t entirely evident what makes Benoit’s art so special, but as you look closer, the pieces that make up the sculptures start to look familiar.
“My style of art, I would say … I am an assemblist sculptor. I repurpose wood that has had another life,” Benoit said.
Each owl, whale, and "Little Miss Muffet" is sculpted out of discarded wood material. The pieces are fashioned using wood from old home porches, rocking chairs, and even some wood waste from Bath Iron Works (BIW)—the list goes on.
“I found that there was a calling for that when I go into a gallery. I wouldn’t find work similar to what I was starting to do, and I found that the people that were running these galleries were also interested in offering something to their patrons that was different than just a painting," Benoit said. "So it was getting a foot in the door more successfully than I was able to do when I was painting.”
Benoit told NEWS CENTER Maine his local dump, the Boothbay Region Refuse Transfer Station, has a contract with BIW to dispose of its discarded wood. Piles of that wood can be found at the transfer station.
Benoit often climbs, digs through, and hunts for an eye-catching piece that most would simply look over.
The transfer station’s assistant foreman, Rena Smith, is friends with Benoit. He even delivered her first son back when he moved to the area in the 80s. Though the two are chummy, Smith said he can get in the way of her work sometimes.
“He gets so focused that he’ll walk right in front of ya! Or I’ll see him climbing the pile and I’ll have to remind him, just because you’re a doctor, that doesn’t mean you can stitch up your own leg," Smith said. “It’s not because he is doing it to be belligerent, it’s actually because he is so focused on what he is looking for.”
Looking for that perfect piece that will hopefully put a smile on someone’s face.
“If I can, with the color that I use or the configuration of what I do, if that connects with a person and makes them smile, I am happy," Benoit said.
Benoit’s art can be found on display at the Knox County Airport, Archipelago in Rockland, Carver Hill Gallery in Camden, and Lincolnville Fine Art Gallery.
More information about his art can be found on his website.