As an environmental artist and activist I work mainly with recycled materials to raise awareness of the importance of waste minimization, recycling, & the conservation of the natural world. My aim is to inspire people to take personal responsibility for their own environmental footprint, & to encourage them to “make a difference”.

From my home in Browns Bay I trash-trawl, dumpster-dive & beachcomb to collect detrius from the global scrapheap to make into recycled art - mainly sculptural pieces & contemporary fashion accessories.
I also assist ethical businesses to present their genuine “green” credentials by making corporate art from their packaging or recycled materials to display in their lobby, use as promotional material, or as corporate gifts.

Public display of recycled art & jewelry gives each of us a vehicle for self-expression: making a statement of our preference for sustainable ways of being in the world.

My interest in trash began when I was five years old living on Hobsonville Air Base, near the tip - where we kids found treasures in the form of old aircraft parts. Later, in the early ‘70’s, I worked in Wellington as a garbage collector - which opened my eyes to the production & disposal of garbage. After that I left on my O/S & travelled the world making and selling jewellery mainly constructed from found objects for some thirty years. I seem to have been talking rubbish all my life!

Now the wanderer has returned, & I am grateful to be at home in Aotearoa - where I am finding time to put something back into the land & community which nurtured me.

My work is in private collections all over the world, and can be seen online at:
www.martinadlington.webs.com