News — upcycled

Here’s a new technique I tried out. I found a chair that was missing a seat and I was considering making a wooden seat with upholstered cushion. Then I had the idea to weave a seat instead. Belts made a perfect medium for this project. Not only are they strong and durable, they’re the perfect size to weave around a chair seat. I made this without cutting one belt. All of the belts are also woven underneath the seat and buckled together. This way, if any of the belts need replacing over time, it’s really easy to do so, without...

Initially bought as a valentine’s gift, all this poor bear knew was love and affection. Sadly, relationships don’t always pass the test of time and Valentino was one of the first casualties. Tossed in the trash during a lovers’ quarrel his little cotton heart broke, and so did his mind. He quickly became feral and now roams the streets in a crazed desperation to find love once more. Valentino has a mouth and claws sculpted from epoxy clay, which is set hard like plastic. All of our Abandoned Toys are created from discarded toys and parts destined for landfill and...

I regularly find discarded dolls and teddy bears, most often after going unsold at a car boot sale. I always pick them up and after a while I had a growing collection. Rather than stripping them apart for salvage, like I do with other finds (like bags & shoes), I began to contemplate what would have become of these Abandoned Toys and imagined them walking the streets and adapting to survive their new habitat. How would these innocent playthings cope out on the streets? What would they need to change about themselves in order to face this new cold harsh...

I see vinyl records all the time at car boot sales, and a lot left behind after not being sold. There will always be a market for the classics, but the rest are destined for landfill. I used a laser cutter to cut out these designs.