With Recycled I brought together visual elements to represent what is essentially my philosophy of life on Earth. There is a finite amount of matter within the boundaries of our planet; all of which is continually dying but within the process of these deaths we find the seeds of rebirth, a renewing cycle of life. In this painting I brought together some of the distinguishing elements of our world: the foundational bedrock, life-sustaining water, plant life, and animal represented by man. But it is only man who is self-conscious, who can destroy or create life as he chooses, the mystery is found in the question, what is the source of this self-awareness? Our bodies are represented by the dead and hollow tree, our flesh and bones will eventually die and decay as well, but at the very heart of this dying shell is the glorious soul, the one thing that makes us more than mere matter and lifts us as individuals out of the cyclical pattern of life and death.