See animals made from trees, fruit peels and seeds by this Hamilton artist

When he was a child, animals and vegetation started to merge in Cesar Correa Cordoba's mind.

"I was imagining all the leaves looked like feathers, or all the plants looked like parts of animals, or the animals looked like the plants," he told CBC Hamilton.

The Mexico native is a painter, accordion player and illustrator, but his passion project for many years has been his animals and other creatures made from natural materials.

These sculptures will be accessible for the public to see this weekend as part ofthe Doors Open festival in Hamilton.

Correa Cordoba uses twigs, fruit peels, leaves, milkweed, cattail and "anything organic" he can find and puts them together with pine sap to make animals out of them. The sculptures take as little as 10 hours or as much as years to complete.

"In the beginning, I didn't have money to buy the art materials," he said.

"So I really was focused on experimenting at home, learning from different little courses or in museums or incultural centres and mix it at home."

Family and friends were sceptical at first as to why Correa Cordoba was saving what they saw as garbage. But with time, their perception of waste changed a little.

"People see what I do with recycled materials," he said, "and then they save me things and [they're] like, 'oh, I was thinking of you and I brought these pieces."

Cotton Factory celebrates 10 years

Paintings, books and art supplies arepiled in different corners of the space thatCorrea Cordoba and other artists use as a workshop within the Cotton Factory, a historic industrial complex repurposedfor artistic and other kinds of independent workers.

He and many others will havetheir creations on displayfor Doors Openbut the weekend is also the factory's 10-year anniversary celebration.

So in addition to the more than50 sitesopen to the public around the city, for free, on May 4 and 5, the Cotton Factory will haveart exhibitions, live music and food vendors.

"It's an interesting time to sort of reflect on things and how far we've come," said Rob Zeidler, managing partner at the factory.

He has seen the place grow from an old factory intothe home of a creative community in Hamilton.

"It's very important to support the arts community to make sure that it's looked after and cared for so it remains strong," he said.

"[The arts community] makes Hamilton a great city to live in and not some cultural wasteland."

Art form with deep roots in Mexico

Correa Cordoba started working out of the space not long afterhe moved to Hamilton around seven years ago.

He said his art is inspired byIndigenous peoplesand traditions of Mexico. Thesculptures, and the process to make them, are metaphors for life, death, and the fragility of both, he said.

WATCH | CesarCorrea Cordoba on the three years he spent working on this sculpture:

How a Hamilton sculptor captures Indigenous traditions in Mexico using twigs, fruit and "anything organic"

6 months ago

Duration 2:08

Hamilton artist Cesar Correa Cordoba uses twigs, fruit peels, leaves, milkweed, cattail and "anything organic" he can find to capture Indigenous traditions in Mexico through sculptures.

In his corner of the workshop, his animals, birds and insects sit on podiums, under spotlights. Jars and boxes of pine cones, bark and other found objects are stacked on shelves in between. It's dark on this particular late April evening a time of day whenCorrea Cordoba often comes in to work on his projects.

The inspiration for the atmospheric display comes from his visits to the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, where pieces fromMayan and Aztec peoplesare displayed.

"That left a big impression always in my life," said Correa Cordoba.

He reflects on the history that the materials he uses bring into his studio, payingrespect to the parts of nature that makehis sculptures possible.

"How these trees for all these years [grew] just to give these leaves or these pine cones," said Correa Cordoba. "It's a lot of years, a lot of energy, a lot of love from the nature."