One of our very favorite Green Diva Guest Co-Hosts, Barbara Taylor, did an excellent job preparing for her assigned segment from the last show she did with us. I’ve asked her to blog about it, so here it is . . .
I recently guest co-hosted The Green Divas radio show and thought it would be fun to talk about something I have always fantasized about – creating art out of recycled materials. What could be better than heading out for a day of dumpster diving and returning with someone else’s trash that could be turned into an artistic treasure? I only wish I had that talent.
After a little research, I found some eco-conscious artists who have created extraordinary works of art from objects that would usually be called waste. Here are a few of the highlights.
Recycle Runway by Nancy Judd
Nancy Judd blew me away with her “eco trash couture” fashion designs made from materials such as crushed glass, recycled office paper, inner tubes, plastic bags, and rusty nails. Her designs are stunningly beautiful and I had a hard time deciding which pieces to talk about on air, as they are all extraordinary. And if you are in travelling through the Atlanta Airport in the near future, you can see some of her works in person (as an environmental educator and public artist, Nancy installs traveling exhibitions of the Recycle Runway Collection in airports, malls and museums).
Check out the retro-hip piece, along with the description from her website: Environmental Steward-ess, commissioned by Delta Airlines The uniform, hat and purse are sewn from worn-out leather seat covers from Delta planes. The cape is made from replaced safety cards, Sky Magazines, old plane tickets, and pretzel wrappers all cut into strips and sewn onto worn pillow cases. The cape was then lined with a discarded Delta blanket. Recycled aluminum cans were used to create the vintage Delta symbol on the purse, hat and belt.
Corrugated Art by Luci Lytle
Luci makes beautiful mosaic-like picture frames, jewelry displays, game boards, and other items out of corrugated boxes that have been turned inside out. I never imagined that the boxes I would typically take to recycling had such potential, but apparently the two layers sandwiched between the smooth sides are made of the fluted corrugated part and are comprised of different heights, widths, colors, and textures. Go to her website – corrugatedart.com to see some of her fabulous work.
Plastic Bag Mandalas by Virginia Fleck
Virginia Fleck not only offers a critique on consumerism, but salvages hundreds of thousands of plastic bags in the process….and transforms them into breathtaking works of art that are symbols of integration, harmony, and transformation.
Wielding an Exacto knife, and with the skill of a modern day quilt maker, Virginia cuts up recycled plastic bags with familiar logos and slogans and reconstructs them into intricate large scale, beautifully designed mandalas. At eight or nine feet in diameter, I can’t imagine how beautiful these must be in person. Perhaps The Green Divas will need to schedule a field trip to Bologna, Italy to see one of her exhibits!
