Local artist Candice Alexander is creating beauty from ashes.

“Nothing is beyond hope,” she said. “Finding the beauty in the broken, embracing imperfections, reimagining failed projects, being open to spiritual renewal … . That’s what life is about.

It’s also what much of Southwest Louisiana has been about since the morning of Aug. 27, 2020.

Today, the hurricanes and other devastating weather events are nearly five years in the past. The damaged Capital One tower is finally down. A few blocks away, at 900 Ryan St., is Alexander’s 3,000 square-foot studio. Shards of glass from the tower demolished in September once destined for the landfill have found their way into large-scale mixed media sculptures, paintings, crafts, jewelry and reproductions.

Using a 6,000-year-old wax casting technique combined with cutting-edge CAD and 3D printing, she creates intricate rosaries, jewelry pieces, rings, earrings and pendants from salvaged materials.

The wearable art history is more than a tangible connection to a singular Southwest Louisiana heritage.

Using saturated darks and exaggerated lights, even the smallest fragment becomes something new and whole. It is symbolic of the fruits of perseverance.

Renaissance-inspired pieces that depict Mother Teresa, Jesus Christ and St. Jude, are a reminder of sacrifice, humidity and hope — concepts deeply tied to the theme of rebirth, according to Alexander.

Her 8th annual 2025 Mardi Gras poster features a queen adorned in a gown made of salvaged tower glass holding pistols inspired by Jean Lafitte’s flintlocks similar to the Calcasieu River Bridge railing casts.

“Nothing is truly wasted. Everything has the potential to become something new,” she said.

Storm survivors, the literal and figurative, get it.

“Art has the power to heal, to inspire and to remind us that nothing is ever truly lost; it can always be reshaped into something new, stronger, more beautiful and full of purpose.”