The “3D Impressionism” of Sayaka Ganz

Look at a spatula or a group of clothes hangers. What do you see? Most likely, a utensil or household garment. Sayaka Ganz sees a galloping horse, or a variety of other animals, within the thousands of plastic household items that people toss aside every day.

Inspired by her childhood in Japan, Ganz was fascinated by the belief in the spirits of all objects. To her, plastic items in the trash have a spirit and can be considered orphans. By creating sculptures with these items, she feels she is giving them a second life and a second home, where they can be appreciated by viewers.

Ganz’s inspiration ultimately shows her appreciation of the objects around her and how they should not be discarded without thought. By transforming these mundane items into sculptures that reflect the beauty of animals, she encourages people to consider the same for the objects in their own lives.

Breathing Life into Plastic

Creating animals from plastic is not easy, given the material’s rigidity. However, Ganz creates a metal armature within the plastic sculptures, allowing her to attach the plastic items with wire. Furthermore, she ensures that the plastic items are arranged to reflect the animal’s muscles and the breath that should be moving through the sculpture.

Ganz often states that she imagines the breath of the animal that she is sculpting into the plastic. If it does not feel right, she will continue removing some of the plastic items until the sculpture reflects the animal’s breath and energy. The result is a unique sculpture of an animal that viewers feel could jump out of the canvas and chase fish across the sky or jump over a fence. Through her work, Ganz has transformed the mundane into the extraordinary.