WAST'ED! catalogue of works

WAST’ED Preview Night Thur 17th Oct 7-9pm Payment in Kind(ness) applies: BringYourOwnGlass, use it as your drinking vessel and get £20 off any artwork for sale

WAST’ED Exhibition 18th - 28th Oct Tue & Thur-Sun 10am-6pm Mon & Wed by appointment

Artist talks Sat 19th & Sun 20th Oct at 11am & 2pm

9th October 2024 NEXT UP at Re’Store: Eco-artivist Francesca Busca presents a sustainable art-from-waste exhibition: WAST’ED! Francesca has embarked on a journey into crafting art from discarded materials while fostering conversations about sustainability and the effects of our decisions on our planet.

Every art piece she creates is a protest against our disposable lifestyle.

Francesca is the founder of Payment in Kind(ness)©, which accepts eco-friendly actions as payment for her artwork, and ArtforTrash©, whereby she uses the clients’ own waste to create artwork for residential, institutional, and corporate settings.

We invited Francesca to present her collection at Re’Store in the hope that we can inspire individuals and businesses to rethink their unwanted personal belongings. Instead of being discarded, waste can be used to create beautiful artworks that embody love, history, and personal stories; the artwork becomes a piece of history that can be passed down to future generations. _______________ Francesca showcases her innovative approach to art-making using discarded materials.

Through her creative process, Francesca not only transforms waste into captivating art pieces but also sparks critical conversations about sustainability and the impact of our consumption habits on the planet.

Each artwork serves as a powerful protest against our throwaway culture, challenging viewers to reconsider their relationship with waste and the environment. By reimagining what is often deemed worthless, Francesca’s work advocates for mindful living and a deeper appreciation for our resources. WAST’ED invites us all to reflect on the broader implications of our choices, inspiring a movement towards a more sustainable future.

Kal Di Paola, Re’Store

HOPE 2019 | 51x51cm | £1500 | Smalti, bark, marble, filati and fruit nets on wooden board/ fibreglass mesh.

Nature suffering, choked by human expansion. Yet, if we let it be, its resilience might be the key to salvation…

“I feel the urgent need to move from an anthropocentric society to one that is focused on the common good of the whole eco-system, where all creatures, both fauna and flora, are respected and treated equally, as the key to our survival”

As an Eco-artivist, ‘Rubbish artist’ and mosaicist, Francesca pioneers sustainable art by creating her artworks entirely out of waste (her 'trashure').

Torn between optimism and surrender, she is haunted by the idea of humankind’s imminent self-destruction. Yet she believes in a future of resourceful innovation through systemic re-thinking. Her artworks are drenched in hope: every tessera she creates is in itself a protest against our disposable lifestyle, providing a different perspective on waste. The more beautiful the artworks, the clearer the message.

Her Gesamtkunstwerk is her commitment to sustainability, encompassing every aspect of her life from veganism to renewables, second-hand clothes (…) to not flying.

Ex-City solicitor, Francesca graduated with distinction in Mosaic and Fine Arts at the London School of Mosaic in 2019, where she also lectured Fabrication from 2021-22. Internationally she has exhibited in over 100 venues, has been featured in over 100 articles and textbooks, and won over 2 dozen awards.

She is the founder of Payment in Kind(ness)© (accepting eco-friendly actions as payment towards her artwork) and of ArtforTrash© (creating artwork with the clients’ own waste).

Francesca runs pro bono art projects on eco-awareness and sustainability. To name a few, she has collaborated with Living Streets, Salon Sustainability, LIGCA, Fernando Montaño, a few primary and secondary schools and most recently with The Camden Clean Air Initiative on Earthfest 2024.

Following her year-long collaboration and residency with the Institute of Marine Sciences in Venice (CNR-ISMAR) Francesca is now on retainer with the Institute, set to collaborate with some prestigious art institutions over the next few years.

Metamorphosis (WIP)

"Possibility is sustained by one's intuition for invention - and for invention to flourish, one must be fiercely independent" (Hans Ulrich Obrist in an interview with James Lovelock, 'Ever Gaia', 2023).

Francesca Busca, an ex-City lawyer, changed careers in 2015, deciding to become an artist, a childhood ambition, always drawing, and in 2019 she graduated from the London School of Mosaic. But out of this newfound talent, she decided to put her energy, and her art, into basically "saving the planet." Busca became, in her own words, an 'Eco-Artivist,' or 'Rubbish Artist!' I prefer the former label.

Busca began creating her sculptures and installations entirely out of waste. She quickly became a master of this art form, a veritable "gesamtkunstwerk" that included her own and her family's lives as vegans.

I am reminded of the artist Hundertwasser, who reclaimed the soil for his artworks and built underground, and the seminal German artist and activist of the 20th century, Joseph Beuys (I interviewed both of them).

Coral Greef, 2024 (detail)

Busca's materials are predictable: plastic cutlery, bottle tops, fruit nets, medicine vials, and, yes, discarded bones! In a permanent installation at a school, she used 8,000 screw tops in a work entitled "Flow of Life."

And in a work entitled "LIVe and let LIVe," her materials were 100% waste, utilizing thousands of crown caps and hundreds of corks, overlaid with organic paints. Other highlights include a tongue-incheek sculpture made out of "100% Crisps and Popcorn"!

But Busca's impressive body of work around the planet is both poignant and topically important, as climate change is on all our minds.

"Everything I create is in itself a beacon of hope," she has stated. "My quest is to push the boundaries of both mosaics and fine art and make them accessible to everybody!"

Busca is soon to collaborate with the Institute of Marine Sciences in Venice for the upcoming Boat Show, a project I look forward to. And she is continually running 'Pro-Bono' projects on "eco-awareness." | truly salute her as a visionary artist so in tune and in touch with the huge problems we face as a planet in the future, and her art and message are that we can do something about it now!

Anthony Fawcett, June 2024

“The chocolate bar wrapper, the disposable coffee cup, the furniture that we replace because it looks a little tatty.

We live in an age where most of us are producing waste at a monumental level. Francesca Busca is not most of us and her commitment to live a sustainable life extends to her art where she repurposes hairdresser's foils, papers and magazines, cork, leftover paint, bottle caps and crisp and popcorn packers to create art that promotes sustainability. She will work with clients to create art from their own waste and will even accept eco-friendly actions in lieu of payment for her art. Creating the words 'love' and 'live' out of rubbish it's both a critique of how wasteful we can all be, but also a beacon of optimism as it's now well known that we're facing an ecological crisis and Francesca remains optimistic that we can find a way to address the climate crisis. Her message is clear - make art, not waste.”

Tabish Khan, May 2024

Cinderella Tries The Shoe / Impostor Syndrome, 2024 (detail)

Francesca Busca’s masterpiece, Cinderella Tries the Shoe / Impostor Syndrome (2024), is a monumental work that fuses conceptual brilliance with an impeccable sense of craftsmanship, earning its rightful place as the winner of the prestigious Future of Art Global Masterpiece Award.

This artwork, constructed entirely from 100% waste, specifically 1,310 medicine vials collected over the span of as many days, serves not only as a profound commentary on societal issues but also as a beacon of what art can achieve when it challenges boundaries and expectations.

The work's title, Cinderella Tries the Shoe / Impostor Syndrome, is not only evocative but incredibly layered. On one hand, it references the timeless fairy tale of Cinderella, a narrative about self-worth, identity, and transformation. On the other, it addresses a deeply modern psychological phenomenon—impostor syndrome—that plagues many individuals, especially those in high-achieving environments like the art world. In this regard, Busca is a genius in connecting the archetypal with the contemporary, creating a dialogue between fantasy and the harsh realities of our internal insecurities.

The use of discarded medical vials, materials that once held life-saving substances, reinterprets the notion of waste and gives it new purpose.

This is the hallmark of a visionary artist—one who can turn what is overlooked or discarded into a narrative of redemption and transformation. The fact that Busca has collected these vials over 1,310 days emphasizes a staggering dedication and patience, qualities which manifest in every facet of the work. The meticulous arrangement of these small, fragile containers into an intricate, almost crystalline structure speaks to her incredible attention to detail and mastery of materials.

At first glance, the artwork's texture is mesmerizing. The vials are arranged in such a way that they mimic the delicate lace-like forms of nature, perhaps evoking coral reefs or snowflakes, yet are imbued with an eerie sense of fragility. The way she has seamlessly integrated the concept of “impostors” into the piece—some vials are different, out of place, but still part of the greater whole—reflects the idea that even within a system where one might feel they do not belong, their presence is still significant. These elements challenge the viewer to question their own perceptions of identity and self-worth.

Busca’s work is a testament to her genius and a striking example of how art can be simultaneously beautiful and conceptually profound. Her unique approach to materiality, particularly in using found objects, aligns her with modern environmental art movements that aim to

reduce waste and question consumerism. However, it is her ability to transcend the medium, to make waste not just a statement on sustainability but also a metaphor for human experience, that sets her apart. By invoking themes of identity, self-doubt, and transformation, she captures the essence of contemporary human struggles in a way that resonates universally.

Winning the Future of Art Global Masterpiece Award places Busca in the echelon of artists who are pushing the boundaries of what art can represent. Her work will undoubtedly inspire future generations of artists and art lovers alike, illustrating the potential of art to effect both personal and societal change. Through her imaginative reuse of materials and deep conceptual thinking, Francesca Busca has proven herself not only to be an extraordinarily talented artist but also an important voice in the global conversation about the role of art in addressing our most pressing issues—both personal and planetary.

It is artists like Busca who remind us that the future of art lies not in convention but in the courage to disrupt, innovate, and ultimately, transform.

Future of Art Global Masterpiece Award Jury Board and Marta Puig, Editor of Contemporary Art Curator Magazine, September 2024

Nature in its Nemesis:

Perennial Plastic Crocodile Reef 2024 | 45x45cm | £850 100% waste: roughly 180 plastic medicine vials.

Extremely unlikely is bound to become increasingly likely, as we are facing a new reality, shape-shifting at increasing speed. Like crocodiles in proximity of coral reefs, a reality which is becoming less and less rare common as a phenomenon of climate change.

Continuing the series on our marine eco-system, so closely linked to the rest of our planet, and so essential to our survival. Legacy of my remarkable residency at CNR-ISMAR in Venice earlier this year.

Beehivis 2017 | 36x45cm | £1,200 100% waste: Actimel bottles and leftover buttons An artificial beehive: the more we advance in every field, the more we imitate Nature’s perfection…but rather that recreating it artificially, should we not safeguard the real thing instead?

For the Smaller Good 2019 | 31x41cm | £350 100% waste: a year's supply of used disposable plastic thyroid medicine vials.

Saving the life of one, only to doom all others by the unnecessary and continuous production of disposable plastic. The shape of the sections of the vials remind us of the shape of hormones, which this medicine regulates.

Hybrid Cactus (...and then it wasn’t) 2018 | 25x43cm | £750 100% waste: a year worth's supply of the same medicine vial, used fruit nets, used plastic cutlery and leftover bones.

Not only do I wonder how long humans will be able to eat other creatures sustainably, but also how long before plastic replaces organic material substantially - either through conscious human intervention or through hormonal assimilation…

Cinderella Tries The Shoe / Impostor Syndrome 2024 | 76x76cm | £2,750 100% waste: 1310 medicine vials (collected in just as many days) and a few impostors. Roughly 5,600 pieces overall.

When they see her for the future bride of the prince, and no longer a servant. And the Impostor Syndrome she probably feels thereon - the same I sometimes, inevitably, feel with my work.

A Monument to Summer 2018-2024 | 100x100cm | £2,750 (NFS until February 2025) 100% waste: discarded Actimel bottles, leftover buttons, bits, bobs, fruit nets, ring pulls, old business cards and a whole lot of stitching, crocheting and loving on a few layers.

Half of a 1x2m eco-experimental piece made in 2018, which could be rolled onto itself and easily carried under one arm. This eco-installation, made rollable with rigid materials, went unappreciated by the NYC gallery it was created for, and it was one of those pieces never quite finished, never quite right. So now it is halved, reworked, patched up and installed onto leftover board pieces and it looks just as it was meant to be!

Coral Greef 2024 | 100x100cm | £2,750 100% waste: 1000+ fruit nets, collected in about 6 years' time.

A healthy coral reef made with its nemesis. Following my residency at CNR-ISMAR and the subject of my current residency with IOAEA, continuing my dialogue on the state of our seas and the need to protect this ecosystem, which is core to our survival. Experimenting ways to make us empathise with it, trying to express its beauty, to create immediate connection. Leaving open edges to show the limits of our doing and to keep our familiarity with these objects, containers of daily food. Trying different textures to recreate both the grains of the seabed and the complexity of water and its many components, starting with the easiest and most immediate to understand, such as air bubbles (revealing our presence).

THE QUEEN OF TRASHURE:

MARVELLOUS METAL

AUTUMN BUZZ 2024 | 31x46cm | £250 100% waste: used coffee pods, dyed fruit nets and corks.

There is beauty in waste. Daily.

FOCUS 2024 | ~110x100cm | £1200 | £450 each (WAS £2000 | £650 each) 100% waste: ~300 used coffee pods There’s beauty in waste. Daily! I hope you will never see coffee pods in quite the same way again.

Ping (The Ping of a Pin on a Pebble in the Pond) 2024 | 76x76cm | £850 100% waste: hundreds of used hairdresser’s foils.

Visually reproducing the sound and vibrations obtained by the fall of a metal object on a hard surface under water, like a pin in a pool. Part of my experimental series on trying to make the viewers empathise with our waters, understand they are a part of the same ecosystem we live in and their importance for the survival of all life on our planet. In this case, by using everyday objects made of the same material, aiming for beauty and the connection we instinctively seem to feel towards it, and reproducing an event which falls within the realm of common experience.

The Need for Deconstruction 2019 | 41x51x6cm | £550 Screws, fruit nets, filati and marble on wooden board. Mostly reused material.

Reference to layers of artificial creations suffocating our planet. If we have the intellectual capacity to analyse and deconstruct abstract concepts, should we not be intellectually capable enough to understand the need to deconstruct structurally as well?

Sangria 2020 | 51x51cm | £450 (WAS £650) 100% waste: 228 metal caps, 46 fruit nets and however many screws on wooden board.

1,140 servings to be exact. Voilà, vertically on a board.

Will. Be. Gone 2020 | 51x51cm | £750 100% waste: over a year's stack of metal caps and ring pulls.

Such disposable beauty for nothing but a moment of glory.

LIGHTWEIGHT 2021 | 105x80cm | £1250 (WAS £2500) 100% waste: screw caps and ring pulls.

Made during the second lockdown, this piece represents the hope to soon reach an end to the emergency, and finally burst out of the black margin. However, the joyful hues also speak of the silver linings of confinement: nature reclaiming urban spaces at an unexpected speed, quiet skies with bountiful chirping, and community kindness.

LIGHTWEIGHTER 2021 | 92x63cm | £750 (WAS £1250) 100% waste: screw caps and ring pulls.

First piece after Lockdown.

Going with the flow and geared towards exhibiting again. A feast of colours, from a black hole through all hues and toward the light outside, to visualise a joyful awakening and rebirth.

The Drinkables I deeply enjoyed this series, finally deploying my sommelier

skills into

my art practice, virtually tasting each piece I lay - each colour representing an aroma or taste of the wine.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2022 | 50x50cm | £550 (WAS £650) 100% waste: 100% waste, roughly 400 screw caps and just as many ring pulls.

Powerful and bold, with black fruit notes of black cherry, vegetal notes of green pepper, and spice notes of vanilla from oak ageing.

MERLOT 2022 | 50x50cm | £550 (WAS £650) 100% waste: 100% waste, roughly 400 screw caps and just as many ring pulls.

Dark fruit flavours of black cherry, blackberry, plum, and raspberries layered with herbal notes and undertones of vanilla and mocha.

CABERNET FRANC 2022 | 50x50cm | £550 (WAS £650) 100% waste: 100% waste, roughly 400 screw caps and just as many ring pulls.

Delicate and aromatic, with red fruit aromas of cherry, strawberry, raspberry and tomato, and a savoury character of dried herbs, fresh bell pepper, roasted red pepper, fresh mint and pencil shavings.

The Vegan Series VIVeRE 2024 | 140 x 31cm (or c. 45 x 100 cm) | £450 (WAS £650) 100% waste: hundreds of cans and corks and leftover wall paint.

Art Nouveau to recall La Dolce Vita, un aperitivo in piazza and a pampering dinner. The ideal of a style no longer sustainable, yet still so dearly engrained in our culture. What does it take to swap flesh for fresh, a pig for a pea, and keep it going rather than end it in flames and floods instead?

Vie for Vegan 2024 | 40x75 cm | £600 (WAS £900) 100% waste: used hairdresser's foils, used magazines and leftover fabric.

The Vegan symbol broken down.

For all wildlife, both plants and animals. 20% of land on Earth is used to raise sentient creatures for slaughter.

For the farmed creatures. They feel, they think, they love and we slaughter them for a few seconds of pleasure. Meat, milk, eggs: all contributing equally. For our children. Because we are literally, systematically killing their future.

For us. To be better, kinder, and respect the beautiful planet we inhabit. And live healthier and longer. To save lives, and save Life.

LOVE is Vegan 2024 | ~120x210 cm | £3600 (WAS £6000) 100% waste: used hairdresser's foils, papers and magazines (leftovers from a commission), 85 screw caps and some fabric leftovers.

This is my 'kindest' piece so far, yet most likely the most controversial. Because in this case LOVe might be 100% rubbish, but it is also 100% Vegan.

For I love my children, and I want them to have a future. By going vegan, ~75% of our land could be reclaimed by nature and rewilded, roughly cutting down a third of carbon emissions.

For in my books love is kind, and cannot be cruelty towards any sentient being. There is nothing natural about the perverse, industrial cruelty of our dairy and meat industry.

Going Ve🌱 is the only way.

QUELL BY THE QUILL:

PLUSH PAPER

National Pinks 2024 | 21x31cm | £250 100% waste: used newspapers and a few hairdresser's foils.

National shades of 'white', tanned/untanned, made with iconic pink newspapers in the UK and Italy respectively. Can you tell what they are?

Still Life 2024 | 51x51 cm | £350 100% waste: used magazines, hairdresser's foils, coffee pods.

Challenging the concept of beauty and worth. Or is waste intrinsically beautiful and worthy too?

Why not have an artwork made with your own waste?

Whether a corporate, residential or institutional setting, ArtforTrash is an excellent way to show your commitment to sustainability with the immediacy of visual art through striking, intriguing, pioneering artworks which are virtually carbon neutral (not a 100% of course, as that would mean not creating any waste in the first place. But second best?)

ArtforTrash is an innovative way to change our perspective on waste: as everyone contributes to the project by keeping the rubbish aside and treating it as a treasure instead, the hope is that disposable items will indeed acquire new value in the eyes of each beholder.

It can also be an original and efficient way to encapsulate tangible memories in an artwork. An outing, a friend, a colleague, your toddler’s mess…any belonging can be turned into tesserae of a unique, personal artwork.

Lastly, as part of Francesca’s commitment to environmental causes, 10% of the amount received is donated to an environmental charity. Previous recipients include Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and The Paul Watson Foundation UK (formerly Sea Shepherd UK), on which she is currently focusing as she strongly believes the work they are doing is vital to our future.

However, other suggestions are always welcome.

www.francescabusca.art/art/artfortrash info@francescabusca.art Instagram: @art_for_trash

Thank you For listening. For caring. For wanting to make a difference.

Please be inspired. Be informed. Be inspiring.

Please be kind to life, please GO VEGAN. Believe we all have an equal right to inhabit this beautiful planet peacefully, both fauna and flora. 💚 Special thanks to Re’Store, my family, friends, neighbours and local communities for embracing the cause and helping daily by collecting precious ‘trashure’: you literally make my world come true (!), and a happier place.

Francesca

www.francescabusca.art info@francescabusca.art Ig: @francesca_busca fb: @rubbishartivist YouTube: @francescabusca