Bill Rabsey

      Bill Rabsey likes to repurpose things he finds during his daily travels. You have to search for and find all manner of objects and save them. Ordinary objects become unusually interesting because their purpose and content are altered. The viewer sees the object in a totally new “light”. An antique doll’s head nestles in an old wooden box partially revealed from behind an antique coopers tool. Mr. Rabsey’s great grandfather was a cooper or barrel maker, so he has the old tools. When you look at his work, you may notice old plumbing parts , assorted gauges, crushed copper from the Hudson River, old knobs, even a baseball. One of his works in a box, consists of a short piece of chain under 3 small gauges. He calls it “Chain Under Pressure”- a play on the physics of chains, which are under tension not pressure, very clever.

      Bill Rabsey comes from a family of artists, his grandfather William Bertkau, was an illustrator and commercial artist and his uncle Howard was an illustrator turned art director. He paid his way through SUNY New Paltz by doing photography and while earning his masters in Instructional Technology he directed the audio visual center at Teachers College Columbia University over three years. A dream job, he says. After retiring from being the “Media Czar” for Middletown Schools he turned to working with his hands. Come see his work at The ARTery in Milford. His website is billrabsey.com