John T Unger Artist's Portfolio

Bottle Cap Fish Mosaic No. 51

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This bottle cap fish mosaic was a recent commission based on Bottle Cap Mosaic Fish No. 47. I love the fins, which were cut from an old Chevy van of some kind… the grooves in the car body metal were perfect for fins.

The other difference between this and No. 47 are the silver caps. On No. 47, I used the old style of Bud Light caps which have been discontinued. Here, I used Becks for both the face and the silver belly. I wasn't sure I liked the silver Becks caps until I started the Heineken rows. The red shields on the Becks caps tie in well with the Heineken red stars, and the Becks shields in the face area. The most interesting thing about working with small patterned units like the bottle caps is the way that, from a distance, the colors on each bran of cap become like the Benday dots in printing to create one solid color tone from multiple small bits of color.

Bottle Cap Fish Mosaic No. 21

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Bottle Cap Fish Mosaic No. 21, 2007 plywood, primer, Bud Light and Izze bottle caps, recycled roofing copper 20" H x 27" W x 2.5" D

This fish is made from Bud Light and Izze bottle caps bottle caps. The plywood is primed with two layers of Kilz primer and can be hung outdoors (but the caps may fade if you hang it in direct sunlight). The fins and tale are cut from recycled roofing copper.

Bottle Cap Mosaic Fish

Bottle Cap Fish Mosaics at Vale Craft Gallery Bottle Caps, plywood, printed tin, copper or bronze, rakes, dustpans, nail, etc. 126" H x 90" W Available bottlecap fish mosaics are listed for sale HERE

Bottle caps have long had a place in the folk art tradition as a decorative element. Usually, they are deployed more as a texture, willy nilly without sorting for color. My own bottle cap mosaics were initially inspired by  Haitian ritual flags, in which detailed images are realized entirely through the use of sequins. The first bottle cap pieces I did combined  bottle caps with vitreous glass tile. Each cap is sorted by brand or color, washed, dried, punched, partially crimped and finally nailed in overlapping scales to create a feeling of depth, light and shadow. Decorative nail heads emulate the texture of seed beads often used to reinforce the sequins on flags. Even the smaller fish require hundreds of caps to complete. The most amazing thing about these fish is the way they interact with light. When you look at one or two caps from any brand, they're generally not all that impressive. But when you group hundreds of them together and let them catch the sunlight,  they truly glow.  The combination of the background color with the logo can create color tones that are vibrant and lively and wholly unexpected. What I like most about making the Bottle Cap fish mosaics is that the overlapping texture of the caps does such a good job of representing scales.These fish have been one of my big sellers… They typically sell out almost as soon as they appear. I can do custom fish in this style, by brand, color, shape, or whatever floats your boat. If you'd like to commission a fish just drop me an email from the contact page and let me know what you're thinking.

 

La Siren II: A Mosaic Mermaid Sculpture in Bottle Caps and Glass

La Siren, 2000 Vitreous glass, bottle caps, stone, copper, glass eyes, Hardibacker substrate 60" H x 36" W x 1.5" D The Lynne Ingram Collection of Folk Art click photo to view larger image.

Christy MacLear commissioned this piece for her gallery, Fleur Fine Art, because people kept asking her to sell the mermaid from her private collection and she couldn't bring herself to part with it. She gave me "total artistic freedom" to create any bottle cap mermaid I wanted to and I took that ball and ran with it. You gotta love the bottle cap dreads! I was inspired to do bottle cap mosaics by Haitian ritual flags, in which detailed images are realized entirely through the use of sequins. Each cap is sorted by brand or color, washed, dried, punched, partially crimped and finally nailed in overlapping scales to create a feeling of depth, light and shadow. Decorative nail heads emulate the texture of seed beads often used to reinforce the sequins. My bottle cap mosaics revisit the playful, funky spirit of my early found object collages. Combining the caps with Italian glass mosaic carries elements of folk art and recycling into a modern fine art context. I also did a cut metal collage this year working from the same mermaid image used for this piece. Take a look at it here.

Mermaid Mosaic Sculpture in Bottle Caps and Italian Glass

La Siren, 2000 bottle caps, vitreous glass, carved wood, enamel paint, copper, glass eyes 46" H x 46" W x 2" D Private Collection
With her Italian glass top and bottle cap tail, LaSiren reflects not just light but a sense of humor and playfulness. The image is based on the La Siren card from the Mexican Loteria game. This was my first mosaic with bottle caps— I was inspired by Haitian ritual flags, in which detailed images are realized entirely through the use of sequins. Each cap is sorted by brand or color, washed, dried, punched, partially crimped and finally nailed in overlapping scales to create a feeling of depth, light and shadow. Decorative nail heads emulate the texture of seed beads often used to reinforce the sequins. My bottle cap mosaics revisit the playful, funky spirit of my early found object collages. Combining the caps with Italian glass mosaic carries elements of folk art and recycling into a modern fine art context. click thumbnail to view larger image.

Atlas Mosaic in Glass and Bottle Caps

Atlas Bottle Cap Sculpture, 2003 Vitreous glass tile, bottle caps, copper, Hardibacker substrate over plywood. 60" H x 36" W x 1.5" D Collection: Cleveland Clinic Foundation

What I love most about this piece is the variety of interpretations I've heard— from holding up the weight of the worlds garbage, to being crushed by alcoholism, to a desire to drink in the entire world. They all work. I love this image and recently did a life-size steel collage working from the same source. Check it out (and learn more about the Loteria game the image is based on) here.