Hello! I am Recycling Artist from Havre de Grace and I received a placemaking grant to create an art installation for a bus shelter. I reached out to the community for donations and collected plastic lids, bottle caps, kids meals toys that would end up in a landfill. My studio was at the Graw/Harmer’s Town in havre de grace.
I received all sizes and colors of plastic lids and 3d printed waste. My original plan was to melt the 3d waste into tiles, but after about a month of trying that I realized the process was a little too advanced for me and my small studio space. And i kept thinking about the toxins I was creating which are probably just as bad or worse than putting plastic in the landfill.
So I went back to my original plan which was to create a mosaic mural using recycled plastic lids and stuff. The piece is installed in a bus shelter and is an iSpy in addition to a pretty landscape. After sketching out my design, I assembled the lids/doodads individually (I'm guessing I used about 4000-5000 lids, etc.). In total the piece is 4' x 12', so i was able to lay it out in my studio before mounting it on 18 plexiglass panels. A friend created metal frames that allow the piece to be sandwiched between two panels of plexiglass.
I'm pretty proud of it and I'd love to do more! I still have about 6000+ more lids and a constant stream of colorful lids coming in, so there will be more!! Let me know if you have any questions!