Jardin Urbanique

"In late December 2017, I took a trip back home to Cameroon. While there, I noticed a lot of plastic waste laying everywhere. The waste system in Cameroon is not as organized as it is here in the States. There were piles of trash, as tall as me, lining the streets. I saw families taking out their trash and adding it to those piles. The majority of the trash was plastic. These images stuck with me when I came back to Omaha and I became more conscious of the waste I produce. I started thinking about how much waste we produce collectively and the impact it has on our environment.

I think of plastic as the opposite of trees. It doesn’t grow. It doesn’t breakdown or decompose. It is not organic.

A naturally curious person, I set out to learn more about where our discarded plastic goes both at a local and national level. I visited the First Star Recycling plant to understand how our curbside plastics are sorted and processed. I also learned that the US has been sending a large amount of our waste to China but due to a relatively recent ban on this process, we are in a waste crisis. This is how the vision for this new show, Jardin Urbanique, was born. I set out to repurpose plastic and refuse to make beautiful art. Ultimately, this show is an exploration meant to ignite conversation and spur new habits."

-Gerard Pefung