Sustainability

Sustainability matters more than ever. It is crucial and I believe that our future depends on it.

I also believe we should aim towards shaping our lifestyles so that it will have the minimum impact on the environment – or none whatsoever – in order for us to enjoy a healthy life on a healthy planet.

Sustainability is therefore a crucial factor in my artwork.

For that reason, I believe we should use Art’s huge potential of grabbing people’s attention on topics, to embrace, henceforth, sustainability in their lives.

The three pillars

But for an art piece to be considered sustainable, it must meet the three pillars of Sustainability: economy, society, and environment. My artwork’s approach towards Sustainability can be summarized in the following points and diagram:

• Economy: Waste as raw material keeps material costs low, reduces the impact on the environment and allows more time for the creative process.
• Society: Sustainable art connects people with nature and draws attention to environmental issues. It can be a catalyst towards change.
• Environment: Art created in a sustainable manner has the minimum negative impact on the environment.

Sustainable materials

I reuse and recycle. Newspaper, plastic bags, used clothing and other materials that would end up in the garbage is my main resource of raw materials.

I especially like to sculpt my pieces with post-use plastic bags that otherwise end up, quite often, in the ocean swallowed by whales or sea turtles killing them.

The sustainable materials I use to create my artwork are:

• Air hardening clay
  I use clay that does not need to be baked nor needs high temperatures to harden. This way, by not needing combustion, no CO2 is released to the atmosphere
• Post-use plastic bags, clothing & newspapers
  I reuse and recycle materials that otherwise might end up in landfills polluting.
• Post-natural-disaster wood
  Instead of cutting down trees to obtain wood to carve my pieces, I use wood that was cut down naturally by a natural disaster such as a flood or a storm.

Read more in the related article Artist statement