Every Piece Matters
Welcome to an insider’s look into the work you will see at the Longmeadow Library solo show of November, 2025.
I’m going to take you through the process and thinking behind the pieces in the show!
Bricolage is the act of creating something from a diverse range of available materials, a "do-it-yourself" approach that is resourceful and often improvisational. The term, which comes from the French for "tinkering," is used in fields like art, engineering, and anthropology, where it describes constructions made from whatever materials are at hand rather than a pre-planned design.
Piece 1. Self Portrait
Bricolage acrylic painting on scrap paper
My name is Wynne Dromey, I am currently an MBA student at Clark University, and I have been painting and running my own art business since my freshman year at Longmeadow High School.
Art has helped me share the importance of feeling love and belonging.
I have found that having the sense of community and support from others is what gave me the deepest feelings of purpose and fulfillment, so being able to share that through art has made me incredibly happy.
Almost all of the work you see here is made from trash or recycled materials that I turned into the surface of my work.
Piece 2. Embrace
Bricolage acrylic painting on canvas
This painting was the first time I ever stretched my own canvas, first time I ever incorporated text into a larger scale painting, and it was the first piece that helped me reconnect with and reflect on my identity of being an Asian-American Transracial Adoptee.
While creating this piece, I was thinking about how lucky I am for being privileged enough to experience a life surrounded by people who embraced me without questioning my background or identity. I then began to think about why not everyone has had those same privileges.
The abstract space that surrounds the central figures is composed of materials such as plastic bags, bubble wrap, and written notes that have the purpose of holding, protecting, and thinking.
Piece 3. Place of Repose
Bricolage acrylic painting on canvas
This piece is the oldest work in the show, and I finished it during my freshman year of college.
This is a portrait of my cousin, Amy, who has always been one of the most inspirational artists in my life. After submitting this painting into the ArtsWorcester college show, I was one of two prize winners. This was one of the first paintings I made using trash as the surface of the work, and it was proof to myself that my practice wasn’t as crazy as it felt.
Although there are not any real rules about what you can and can’t do while making art, it felt almost illegal when I was experimenting with using trash the first time! Still today I question if what I’m doing is “wrong” or too unpolished for it to be considered art.
This was my piece in the ArtsWorcester College Show during the pandemic.
Piece 4. Nothing Wasted
Bricolage acrylic painting on canvas
One of my favorite concepts to pick apart in my work is the balance of making something visually appealing and polished versus leaving my mark-making to exist more organically. I enjoy changing the colors in the original photo to be more vibrant or exaggerated. Looking at this painting, I would not be as interested in its appearance if the surface was simply a smooth canvas.
I am grateful for the help of my partner, Alex, who built this frame and shared the dinner shown in the painting.
Piece 5. Holding and Blooming
Bricolage acrylic painting on canvas
The paint cannot fully conceal or erase the surface beneath. The labor of layering, polishing, and blooming is never finished and never neatly resolved. Centered on a familar exchange, a vibrant bouquet rests in a weathered red crate. By allowing playful collisions of material and mark making, I invite intuition to lead the way, letting the ordinary become joyful, celebratory, and open to connection.
(Progress images shown below)
For sale: $2,500
Visit the contact section if interested
Experimental Work
While creating, I am always thinking about:
- What is valuable?
- How is value created?
- I think there’s value in appreciating what we deem valueless
- Embracing means giving value
My process involves intentional “wandering” or exploration of how my painting style can be incorporated with different surfaces and materials.
Piece 6. Neighborhood Cat Piece 7. Dining Room Piece 8. Enfolded 1 Piece 9. Enfolded 2
Mixed media acrylic paintings on cardboard and brown paper bags
This work has helped me consider different compositions from my camera roll on a smaller scale.
For sale: $150 each
Visit the contact section if interested
Below are reference photos used as well as other work in my brown paper lunch bag series.
Piece 10. Wandering
Bricolage acrylic painting on deconstructed gift bag
Wandering is an act of intentional uncertainty. Painted on a deconstructed gift bag, torn edges and folded creases structure the path of finding what emerges from what has already served its function. Clarity and celebration grow from embracing curiosity and the process of walking through what is unknown.
Piece 11. Drive By
Bricolage acrylic painting on arranged trash
While spending the summer in Vermont for an internship, I would pass by this green house every day. My eyes would always fall on the green exterior and red roof.
The word that circulated my head while making this piece was intentionality. While there was a quickness while taking the reference photo, constructing the surface, and painting various sections of the piece, in what ways does speed lack the feeling of intentionality? Does intentionality require slowness?
Piece 12. Found Celebration
Acrylic painted plastic garland
I struggled a lot with questioning the validity of this piece while making it. I wondered if the plastic material took away its ability to be considered a work of art. Artwork that is considered “polished”, “beautiful”, “manicured”, or “important” tends work that transforms a flat surface to a recognizable image. I questioned if there could still be a higher level of respect or validation for this piece even if the materials are still visually trash.
I like the celebratory feeling in the colors and the “pom pom” structure of the garland, and I enjoyed the process of not knowing what I was making.
Piece 13. My Purpose
Acrylic painting on canvas
My purpose is to share love and belonging through embracing difference and individuality.
For sale: $450
Visit the contact section if interested
Piece 14. My Process
Mixed media collage on paper
While creating any work, I am always simultaneously writing down and journaling my thoughts on scrap paper. I also hate wasting the leftover paint on my brushes, so I practice mindless mark making and take note of the colors I use in each piece.
For sale: $450
Visit the contact section if interested
Piece 15. Burgeoning
I met Freda while hosting free painting workshops at a local nonprofit women’s shelter funded by a scholarship I was awarded through my school. She was the first person to sign up and was the most enthusiastic about trying something new and engaging with my work. Unfortunately, Freda is no longer with us, but her exuberant smile and warmth remains in this painting.
This portrait, built from layers of discarded materials, found textures, and vibrant color, is a celebration of resilience, nonconformity, and inner growth. The figure’s expression is open, weathered, and joyful as she shared with me her lived experience and hopeful emergence in our conversations.
(Freda next to piece and work in progress images shown above)
Words worn on Freda’s clothing—“BREATHE,” “TRUE,” “NONCONFORMING,” “GRATEFUL,” “CONNECTED”—emerge like affirmations, echoing the inner voice of claiming space in the world. These values were shared with me by the individual in the conversation we had and translated through the materials in the piece. Surrounded by blossoms and textures that stretch beyond the canvas, Burgeoning reminds us that beauty can emerge from the overlooked, and that everyone deserves to feel seen, safe, and whole.
Piece 16. Held By Your Dream
Bricolage acrylic painting on plastic bags
I met Max about one year ago while shopping outside the local Walmart. Every time I would pass him, he always greeted me with a kind smile and conversation. While painting this piece, I was thinking about the word, “own” and what it is we all own- tangible and intangible.
My goal is not to tell Max’s story, but rather, offer him the space to tell his own. Currently he is in need of a new tent, bike and phone, as all of these items have been stolen from him.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING
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THANK YOU FOR VISITING 〰️
Please reach out if you would like to talk more about what you just saw! I love hearing your ideas and thoughts and perspectives and welcome any feedback you have.
This photo was taken March 5th, 2020 right before the Covid shutdown. It was right after I installed my first ever solo show in the Bing Arts Center in Springfield which I organized through a cold call.
I am so grateful and lucky to have been able to continue my practice since then, and I couldn’t be happier to get to continue sharing my work with my hometown!
Thank you to Julia Mitchell for catering and organizing the reception and supporting my work with so much kindness and care.
Thank you to Storrs Library for inviting me to display this show, and I look forward to growing my work and continuing to share my message of embrace!
