I hope you’ve noticed by now how much plastic there is. And how much plastic we throw away every day. It is nothing short of staggering. To show you exactly what we throw away, several artists have turned to plastic waste as a resource for their upcycle art pieces. A few amazing artists are Aurora Robson and Sayaka Ganz. Another one is Parisian graphic designer and artist Bruno Lefèvre-Brauer, aka +Brauer, who created a series of upcycle portraits called Plastic Icon.

Plastic Icon is entirely made of plastic waste. A material omnipresent in our environment, threatening the planet and literally suffocating all beings. Every second, 200 kg of plastic is dumped in the oceans, more than 100,000 marine mammals die every year, and if we go on like this, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050.

Through a series of 2Oth century iconic portraits, +Brauer tackles this material by meticulously assembling hundreds of discarded plastic pieces from toys, pens, bottles, packaging to mundane objects of our daily lives. All these pieces/parts have different sizes and colors. They are carefully chosen, collected and classified. Each piece remains with its original color, untouched, as it was found.

Plastic Icon consists of amazing portraits. And they are both interesting and mesmerizing as well. From an accumulation of scattered pieces, at first, the eye sees each element independently, but like a giant puzzle, looking at it from a distance, an image or a face suddenly appears. By assembling each piece according to a specific pattern, the artist brings them back to life and gives them a new meaning and perspective. It’s amazing how much detail is in these portraits.

In these large-format works [80x8O cm], +Brauer plays with iconic figures as he presents his personal vision of resistance to overconsumption.

He demonstrates his social commitment through an artistic approach. Upcycling is key in the way he wants to convey his intended message, no matter what material is used

Design by +Brauer