David Lovejoy is putting the finishing touches on his latest shadow box. Like everything he creates in his studio, it’s made entirely from everyday found objects.

A drawer from an old vanity and parts from a dart board, broken chair, and garden fencing. He gives new life to what others throw away. Think of it as a collage, but a three-dimensional one. 

“Assemblage is a stream of work within art school and art criticism and art history, but what I do in my studio is assemblage because I’m assembling things,” Lovejoy.

However you pronounce it, the practice dates back to Pablo Picasso and his relief constructions, when he painted on scraps of wood and tablecloth and made a frame out of rope. Lovejoy uses entire pianos and brass instruments. Nothing is too precious to turn into something else.

“I built the bookcase here. This is an old harp case that is probably older than the building we’re in. I think it was built in the 1880s. And these are my folk’s old Reader’s Digest condensed books. They were going to put them in storage and I brought them here just to give them a better home,” says Lovejoy.

If you’ve been to The Last Bookstore, you’ve probably taken a selfie with some of his work. He’s had his gallery since 2012 and recently celebrated his 100th Downtown Art Walk.

He says he gets his materials from life. By now, people know he’s always looking so stuff finds him so instead of sending it to a landfill, he transforms it in his studio.

“I really enjoy working with these materials. I like working with things that are time worn. They have a patina from the use that they’ve seen,” he says.

A ceramicist since the 1970s, Lovejoy turned to assemblages when his home couldn’t support his kilns. So he began experimenting. Now he makes mobiles out of magnifying glasses and lamps out of suitcases. It’s environmental without the pretension and accessible without being mainstream.