trash Archives — Colossal

a collagraph print made in the outline of a small, flattened, cardboard carton with imagery of birds in the air and huge electrical pulons

Rachel Mentzer Transforms Discarded Cartons into Dusky Collagraphs

April 27, 2026

an abstract wall-installed artwork by Moffatt Takadiwa made from computer keyboard keys, combs, toothbrush heads, and metal pieces

Moffat Takadiwa’s Scrounged Sculptures Confront Africa’s ‘Colonial Hangover’

April 7, 2026

A detail of a sprawling light fixture produced by Ghanaian artisans in collaboration with PET Lamp with swirling, woven designs, with additional pieces installed around the room

In Collaboration with Indigenous Artisans Around the World, PET Lamp Emphasizes Sustainability

February 9, 2026

a sculpture by Ninon Hivert made of clay and other materials that mimics two compressed stacks of cardboard boxes

Ninon Hivert Captures the Poetics of Discarded Items in Sculpture and Collage

November 5, 2025

a sculpture by Stéphanie Kilgast of a colorful bird nesting inside of a portable CD player

Stéphanie Kilgast’s Book ‘Utopia’ Chronicles Ten Years of Vibrant, Post-Apocalyptic Sculptures

September 22, 2025

Ryo Minemizu Illuminates the Incredible Diversity of Plankton Off the Coast of Japan

June 9, 2025

a white woman stands in front of a graffitied sanitation truck talking to a black man

‘Maintenance Artist’ Highlights Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ Radical, Caring Approach to Public Art

June 5, 2025

an artwork comprising cloth made from woven and connected pieces of plastic and paper, creating colorful patterns

Discarded Packaging and Labels Find New Life in Kelly Kozma’s Vibrant Patchworks

May 2, 2025

a cyanotype of a fragment of cloth resembling a botanical specimen, labeled "Gigartina sunday"

Mandy Barker’s Cyanotypes Revive a Pioneering Botanist’s Book to Warn About Synthetic Debris

March 18, 2025

a digitally created aerial composite image of numerous disused military airplanes, tanks, and other vehicles

Endless Fields of Detritus Blanket Cássio Vasconcellos’s Aerial Composites

November 12, 2024

a sculpture made from a vintage box with a decorator crab on top, collecting a string of pearls and surrounded by blue coral

Thriving Habitats by Stéphanie Kilgast Emerge from Plastic Bottles and Recycled Objects

October 23, 2024

Bordalo II Combines Salvaged Neon Tubes, Industrial Materials, and Other Waste into Lively Trash Animals in a New Retrospective

October 7, 2022

A Short Documentary Explores the Life of the ‘Artifact Artist’ Who’s Been Excavating New York City’s Trash for Decades

April 19, 2021

The Children of Gaia Emerge from Ecological Crises in Photographs by Fabrice Monteiro

October 26, 2019

Look Inside the 45,000-Piece Collection of Treasures by Sanitation Worker Nelson Molina

September 11, 2019

Repurposing the World’s Plastic Waste: An Interview With Assemblage Sculptor Thomas Deininger

August 28, 2019