Eco ARTISTS

Finding beauty in the most unlikely places, these talented Brits use reclaimed objects – better known as rubbish – to create stunning art

- ANDREW SHAW

Nowadays, we all want to make a difference when it comes to global pollution and plastic waste. Here, three talented women tell us how their concerns for the planet led them to using reclaimed materials in their artwork.

‘I once got stuck in a skip!’

Sue Lynas, 54, lives in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex

As a kid, I was always drawing and making things. I was thrilled when I got a job as a teaching assistant at my son’s school and I could run the art club. This led to a job as an education officer at an open farm, where I made pieces for special occasions from reclaimed materials. I was always trawling through skips – I even got stuck in one once! I laughed when my colleagues nicknamed me ‘Skippy Sue’.

After that, I had enough confidence to start my own business, called Bee Creative, making larger pieces for festivals.

In 2018, the Essex Wildlife Trust asked me to make a huge megalodon (an extinct shark) for their centre. They chose me as I was a ‘rubbish artist’.

And last year, to highlight plastic pollution, the Trust asked me to make a seal out of debris from an Essex beach. Now, Poly (polystyrene) and her baby Nurdle (named after the billions of plastic pellets that wash up on our shores) are on tour, going into schools.