“Reuse, Recycle, Rehumanize” was inspired by a photo I took a few years back in South Africa. She looked so peaceful, calm, and at that moment it seemed like all her troubles lifted from her shoulders, and she could reach for the stars. I wanted to capture that moment in my art too, and encourage other women to also reach for the stars.

I used acrylic paint with a monochrome colour scheme for the portrait and for contrast in the background I used recycled Nespresso capsules and Softi candy wrappers. The recycled items are arranged to create a colourful pattern that adds to the beauty and vibrancy of the woman. The title of the piece is my way of asking people to think about what they are doing and instead of throwing things away and writing people off why not “Reuse, Recycle, and Rehumanize” wherever possible and do something you are proud off.

Title: “Reuse, Recycle, Rehumanize”

Dimensions: 610mm x 460mm

Medium: Mixed Medium (Acrylic paint, Nespresso Capsules, Softi Candy Wrappers)

About the author, Mariska

Hi and welcome! My name is Mariska. I am originally from South Africa, but now call the world my home. I am an artist, designer, environmentalist, podcast host and speaker.

I started the Mama Earth Talk podcast in 2018 to share some of the things that I learned about just how easy it can be to reduce your impact on the environment. This then quickly grew into a forum that showcases the amazing things that many people are doing to make the planet better, and further into a source of hope and inspiration for many. A few of the amazing guests include Zero Waste Queen, Bea Johnson, Claude Silver, Kathryn Kellogg and zero waste chef Max La Manna.

If you do not already I urge you to follow me and my journey on social media (@designbymariska), and to refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot your own waste using the handy tips I post!