10 creatives making a difference with sustainable art and design

The relationship between art, design, and sustainability goes back many years and has been realized through many different genres, across many mediums and time periods. Works are defined as sustainable if they are made up of upcycled materials, found objects, and are made through processes that do no damage to the earth’s resources. These creations, along with the ways they are made, seek to highlight environmental degradation, along with the stark reality of climate change. These 10 artists and designers on The Artling, an online art gallery, actively create works that promote sustainability, from using found objects to re-contextualizing salvaged materials, to using off-cuts that would otherwise go to waste. The artists are:

Choi Jeong Hwa is an artist famously known for using recycled materials, making small sculptures to large scale installations with materials such as old banners and commercial plastic containers.
Strongly influenced by Chinese heritage, artist Cui Fei uses these materials to compose of manuscripts that highlight the relationships between cultural differences; between culture and nature; and between nature and human beings.
Pannaphan Yodmanee combines different materials ranging from found objects to organic elements to create works that recall traditional Thai art and architecture.
Founded by Takahiro Hirano, Life Wood Works is a Japanese furniture brand that uses offcuts of cedarwood to create their pieces. His ‘Gorotans’ series uses salvaged wood from the base of a tree after the majority of it has been cut off.
Conservation is at the heart of Chris Maynard’s practice. Maynard combines biology and ecology into his artworks made with feathers, using tools such as tiny eye surgery scissors, forceps, and magnifying glasses that have been passed down through his family.
Re-envisioning the relationship between the old and the new, Ryosuke Harashima uses traditional Japanese items such as handmade bamboo baskets and wittily fashions them into contemporary furniture pieces.Above all, Harashima wants his works to get people thinking about the meaning of sustainability and consumption in modern society.
A Japanese sculptor, Hiroyuki Nishimura utilises wood that would normally be chucked away as unusable.
Before becoming an artist, Yudi Sulistyo worked at an advertising company where he found the remains of unused cardboard.
French artist Camille Thibert was formally trained in landscape architecture, and since then has been creating what she calls “earth works”. By using nature as a medium, Thibert seeks to start a discussion on the vulnerability of nature and highlight how we should pursue a more respectful and conscious way of life.
Norihiko Terayama graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven and started his own studio that features motifs from natural objects.