Artist Orianne Cosentino uses NYC parking tickets to create art

Orianne Cosentino, a Queens native, has found inspiration in the orange parking tickets that cause most New Yorkers distress. She has used thousands of discarded tickets to create more than 200 paintings and drawings of New York City landscapes.

As a student at the School of Visual Arts in the ’90s, she began collecting the abandoned tickets, which come from all five boroughs, some with furious sentiments scrawled upon them.

She waited 10 years before doing anything with her stockpile of tickets, and now friends still donate them. Her process begins with one of the photos she’s snapped of a New York City scene, and then she glues down the tickets as a foundation.

Once she has an abstract composition, she references the photo’s image and starts painting or drawing. Cosentino has sold her pieces at art shows, in cafes, and online through her website and Instagram account. Prices range from $200 to $3,000 based on size.

Orianne Cosentino displays her collection of parking tickets at her Long Island City art studio.

Stephen Yang

The Queens native has integrated thousands of discarded tickets into more than 200 acrylic paintings and drawings.

Stephen Yang

Orianne Cosentino started collecting tickets in the ’90s as a student at the School of Visual Arts.

Stephen Yang

Her friends contribute to her ticket pile. “To this day … they hand me envelopes and Ziploc bags full,” she said.

Stephen Yang

Some guests at her exhibits don’t even spot the tickets at first. “And then they get close … and they just start to emerge from the sky, from the buildings. And that’s the magic,” she said.

Stephen Yang

The tickets’ bright orange hue works perfectly “where there’s taxis or streetlights,” Cosentino said.

Stephen Yang

Chef by day, Cosentino sels her art online, at cafes and ocasional art shows.

Artist Orianne

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