Recycled Miniatures

The idea of reusing materials has been instilled in our psyche since we were children, from when our parents thought the world was on the verge of an environmental disaster. It turns out they weren’t wrong. Here we are,  adults ourselves, watching wildfires burn freely across Canada and affecting the air quality worldwide, all of us buying our first homes with the addition of insurance to cover fire, flash flood, polar vortexes, and all other weather related disasters. Us, here, living in the future. The future. 

Weren’t we supposed to have it all figured out by now? How far have we really come? How can we continue along this path knowingly contributing to the end of the environment as it once was? Who in this day and age doesn’t feel guilty about their consumption habits? I do. Especially as an artist. 

I know that not all my work will be a total knock-out. The only way to improve is through practice, which only results in more waste that will some day end up buried in a landfill somewhere long after I go. The guilt associated with this is immense and perhaps part of the reason I long ago started collecting and saving interesting items from my garbage. 

The things I’ve saved over the years range from sticker sheets at my college job to Apple watch boxes and Amazon packaging, from take-out containers to dental floss containers, and everything in between. Looking at the things I throw away with a more critical eye is refreshing and has helped me think more creatively. 

By repurposing waste into an artistic medium, I hope to encourage others to look more critically at what they discard, and to start elevating trash to treasure. The smallest act of eco-consciousness.  

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