In Nigeria, recycling is?largely an informal process controlled?by small companies,?and waste?often ends up in waterways and overflowing?landfills.?But where others see trash, 37-year-old Nigerian artist Chibuike?Ifedilichukwu sees opportunity. He creates portraits of celebrities from?discarded aluminum cans, making a bold statement about waste management in the country.
Ifedilichukwu?credits his eco-consciousness to his?grandmother, who he lived with as a boy?in Anambra state, southeastern Nigeria.?He learned to weave at school there, but it wasn’t until recently that he began incorporating waste materials.
One?day?in 2021,?while?accompanying?his wife to an antenatal clinic,?Ifedilichukwu?says he?stumbled upon a pile of dumped plastic strips. He took them home, wondering what to do with?them, but it?wasn’t?until?a year later that he leaned on?his childhood craft influences?to?upcycle the plastic into art.?“I wanted to find a unique way to express myself?and?I researched.?I?found that nobody?does this pattern of art,” Ifedilichukwu?told CNN.
“I’m?creating awareness”
Based in the city of Awka, he now creates abstract pieces?and?portraits?from aluminum, wood, plastic,?metal, copper wire and rope, along with bullet shells,?and injection bottles donated by community-based hospitals.
Dumpsters in his neighborhood have become?an unconventional art material supply store for?Ifedilichukwu. “When I go scavenging, people see me as a mad person,” he?said. “But?I’m?making a living out of it …?and?I’m?creating awareness?to make our environment?safe.”
After a successful day of dumpster diving,?Ifedilichukwu?gets to work,?beginning with washing and disinfecting the cans and plastic strips. He cuts the ends off the cans to?unfurl?them?like?wrapping?paper, then he uses a ruler and craft knife to carve the cans into?strips,?which he interweaves to form?a?canvas?on which he?sketches his subject?in pen.
Next,?he?interlocks?the colorful?outer?part of the cans into the plain part of the canvas?to create portraits.?It’s?a technique inspired by?both fabric and?mat?weaving, or “nka-ute” in?Ifedilichukwu’s?Igbo dialect.?Each piece takes him?up to two weeks to complete.
His subjects include American rapper Cardi B, award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Nigerian music label founder Don Jazzy. In future, he plans to feature only eco-conscious celebrities, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and actor Leonardo di Caprio, and he has already created a portrait of Afrobeats star Davido, who has worked with conservation group WildAid.
Ifedilichukwu, who is also a photographer, graphic designer, print maker and curator, has created at least 40 pieces of upcycled art, which have?featured in national and international?exhibitions.?His works have gone viral on social media and sold for up to $1,000?per piece.
But success?for?Ifedilichukwu is?at?the intersection of his art and?attitudes towards waste, “at the point when people are environmentally conscious,?and are willing to accept and adopt proper waste management as individuals and government agencies.” He said he aims?to?build?a?community-based?art?gallery?that recruits budding?artists for environmental advocacy.
Ifedilichukwu is also willing to suffer for his art. Although he wears gloves when he works, he says he’s been cut many times by sharp-edged cans, craft knives, scissors,?needles?and?steel?wire.
“(Getting cut) is not a problem for me. It will heal,”?Ifedilichukwu?said. “It’s?also become part of the message. I feel the pain the waste would have caused to the environment.”