Stained Glass Windows made out of Single Used Plastic

Stained glass windows made out of

Single use plastic

By Kelly Jimenez & Alejandro Franco

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Artist Statement Kelly Jimenez and Alejandro Franco are both Colombian artists whose primary discipline is the use of discarded materials to create highly crafted works of art. They have been collaborating for the past three years creating a variety of works for different venues, their work is often in the form of stop-motion animation, photography, sculptures and lately they have been fully focused in the creation of stained glass windows made out of single use plastic.

Alejandro Franco Is a multidisciplinary artist who works primarily in the arrangement of found objects assemblages as well as painting, Alejandro was born on October 3rd of 1982 in Medellin (Colombia), at the age of eighteen he moved to Florida where he started his artistic exploration.

Kelly Jimenez Experienced Art Director & visual artist, born in Bogota, Colombia Moved to Florida at a young age and earned an Associate of Arts and Sciences (A.A.S.) in Fashion/Apparel Production and Design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. uses everyday objects as tools for inspiration and exploration

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table content of

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How all started Little actions create big impacts.

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Withering Away

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Throwaway world

Scenes of nature overtaking human infrastructures.

The idea of depicting our planet in its physical form from different perspectives.

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Seres Transitorios

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Anatomy

The lives of Jimenez and Franco mirror those of the migrant birds they have exalted to larger than life.

A biology study of different species.

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Laumeier

Art residency at Laumeier Sculpture Park

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How it all started We are Kelly Jimenez and Alejandro Franco, In our individual practice we always use found materials that are usually resting out of purpose.

Due to our affinity and desire to preserve species and land, we decided to embark on this journey of making a project to create awareness on the careless use of single-use plastic, plastic bags are one way we are depleting our oil supply, 8% to 10% of our total oil supply goes to making plastic.

Even though we don’t normally use plastic because as we had always seen it as a material that evokes the aspects that are wrong about us humans, when we moved to St Louis three years ago with just a few of our possessions, we didn’t have any studio equipment or art supplies any longer. We started to notice that packaging material of all sorts was abundant and that it was going in the garbage in the prime of its life. An average American throws away about 10 bags a week. That’s 520 bags a year. Just the US throws away an estimated 100 billion plastic bags annually. so we decided to give this new significance to something so transient and problematic. little actions create big impacts.

By spending all this time and effort to recover an undervalued material through labour, we hope to make an allegory of the efforts we need to make to preserve a healthy ecosystem, one where we can feel hopeful and proud, an essential desire so often taken for granted”

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Kelly and Alejandro working on “seres transitorios” at the Angad Arts hotel.

Photo courtesy of Vanessa Rudloff.

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On our first attempt, we went for recreating scenes of nature overtaking human infrastructures. This imagery was based in a hypothetical scenario of a mass human extinction. Basically the way we imagine it by the time this plastic will decomposed.

Ferris wheel Single-use plastic on paper & acrylic paint.

4 x 8 feet

Withering away 7

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When we started this project we already had an important message out there through our material, but we really needed to cause impact to our audience so we decided to create a series of pieces with representations of nature overtaking architectural structures, the plastic which is a big problematic already present on our landscapes is used as a filter for one to see the future as we imagine it by the time this plastic decomposes, a place where humans were extinct and nature overcomes our disregardful existence.

“We are lovers of nature, we are always finding ways to celebrate it and preserve it.”

Ferris wheel close up

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“We are making use of the translucency and variety of colors of this material to present the audience with meticulously crafted pieces that turn a material so transient an detrimental into something of great beauty, worth preserving”

Piano Lessons Single-use plastic on paper 25” x 32” 2019

Empire waste 2019 single-use plastic on paper 25” x 32”

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Throwaway world at

2019 It is truly fascinating to throw a grape in the air and fit it in the mouth, especially if we take into account that we are standing on a large sphere loaded with water, that travels by centrifugal force at a speed of 28,900 km/s.

All the different components and conditions that make possible the existence of life in all its different variations that we enjoy, play a fundamental role in the development of our ecosystem, we are dazzled by the synchronicity that mak possible the great wonders that exist in this world.

Throwaway world is an exhibition with a deep environmental spirit -it is impossible to do something with plastic that does not have the allusion to unconsciousness printed all over it.

We decided to portray the beauty of our planet in its physical aspect using this purely artificial material that disrupts the marvelous synchronicity of our planet. The presence of logos and graphics in our windows prove to be a hidden clue about the impact of large corporations and their implications on pollution. We hope to encourage people at an individual level, to reduce their use of single-use plastic in their daily lives.

“Throwaway world” exhition shot at G-CADD Photo by Adam Newsham

Throwaway World, Single-used plastic on Paper 30” x 30” 2019

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Granite City Steel mill Single-use plastic on paper mounted on the window.

82” x 36” 2019

Political World Map Single-used plastic on paper framed in a Lightbox 36” x 55” 2019

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On this exhibition, we approached the idea of depicting our planet in its physical form from different perspectives. We made a mercator projection map which is a controversial map (distorts the size of countries making bipoc countries look smaller) with great use for navigation, but often use as a general map in school to teach children about the world. We also created a medium size version of the globe and took it around and photographed in places once occupied by humans and currently disregarded. We also made a color coded map of the plastic distribution in the oceans that shows the amount of pieces/sq kms. we ultimately wanted to contrast these pristine works made out of a pollutant material, with the state of decay of the space.

Plastic Distribuition Single-used plastic on paper framed in a Lightbox 36” x 55” 2019

Migr Sing pap boa 12 x 202

Seres

TRANSITORIOS

rating Birds poster, gle-use plastic on per mounted on cardard and acrylic paint. x 8 feet, 20

(transient Beings)

This monumental poster inspired in the work of John Audubon, was created to be display in the lobby of the Angad Art hotel.

Our intention was best described by Vanessa Rudloff.

“The lives of Jimenez and Franco mirror those of the migrant birds they have exalted to larger than life. As Colombian immigrants, they lived in Florida for many years only to continue to migrate to the Midwest looking for a different set of resources like birds traveling across the world with an equivalent search.

It is in resources that their work most strongly speaks to the viewer. Each piece is constructed from cardboard and single-use plastics to spotlight the anthropogenic effects on the earth and it’s wildlife. Like birds gathering what they find around them, Jimenez and Franco use what is most abundantly available in our modern world”.

2020

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Red crowned

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Western Tanager

Boa Taurus Single-use plastic on paper, Framed on a Lightbox 34” x 56” 2019

Anatomy 2020

Anatomy is a biology study of different species. We depict the marvelous complexities of their bodies with the intention to draw attention to the overpopulation of micro plastics, which could permeates our bodies with carcinogenic properties or damage our DNA. The side effects of the oil industry are yet to be determined.

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Y Halcon Single-use plastic on paper 5 x 2 Feet 2020

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Rattus Single-use plastic on paper 16 x 20 inches 2019

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Microplastics 16” x 20” inches Single-use plastic on paper 2019

Microplastics Single-use plastic on paper 16” x 20” inches 2020

LAU ME ier

Represen park had opened to encourag and to ma

ntations of the sculptures currently on view at the been made for the Discover Laumeier, a free event o the broad public that gave us the opportunity to ge children to find inspiration in their surroundings ake the best use of the materials available.

Redwood I in winter Single-used plastic on paper framed in a Lightbox 2021

Alpha in winter Single-used plastic on paper framed in a Lightbox 2021

Triangular Bridge over water in winter Single-used plastic on paper framed in a Lightbox 2021

Ball? Ball! Wall?

Wall! in winter Single-used plastic on paper framed in a Lightbox 2021

Cromlech Glen in winter Single-used plastic on paper framed in a Lightbox 2021

For giving us this amount of attention we are very grateful with you, it encourage us and motivate us.

thank you

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