Philippine artist turns waste into paintings

Filipino artist Gilbert Angeles has for years incorporated materials ranging from shredded plastic to old paint and leftover construction wood in his paintings in a bid to raise awareness about trash.
Hanoi (VNA) - Filipino artist Gilbert Angeles has for years incorporated materials ranging from shredded plastic to old paint and leftover construction wood in his paintings in a bid to raise awareness about trash.

Since 2019, he has made over two dozen paintings of this kind.

The 49-year-old artist sources the materials from around his Manila neighbourhood or through donations from contacts he has made since launching his environmental campaign.

Angeles’ artwork has since been shown in galleries, with paintings selling for around 600 to 3,000 USD. Part of the proceeds goes to his environmental group, Green Artz, which encourages artists to use recycled waste in their work.

He said he decided to take action when he found that his country was one of the world’s biggest contributors of plastic waste in the ocean.

The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China account for around 60% of the world’s marine plastic, or 8 million tonnes annually, according to a 2017 report from the Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment./.
VNA

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