Conversation with Michelle Walker

In this episode, I sit down with Michelle Walker, an Australian "Earth artist" who bridges art, nature, and science — a divide she's refused to accept since a school career advisor told her to pick one. After 25 years in environmental planning and science communication, she now makes her practice entirely from what the land offers: pigments brewed from invasive weeds, salvaged brick, charcoal, sawdust, even avocado skins from her local coffee shop.Michelle opens up about giving away all her acrylics — "liquid plastic," as she calls them — because they ran counter to her values, and teaching herself to work with egg tempera and watercolor mediums instead. We dig into her "100 Days of Pigments" project, her flood-inspired house sculptures that grew into award-winning public art, and her component-based approach to large-scale work ("I once was a mountain," spelled out in 17 salvaged bricks). She also shares her book 20,000 Brushstrokes, her teaching, and her philosophy: everything takes longer, but knowing the full story of your materials is where the joy lives.https://michellewalkerart.com/ Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

In this episode of Salvage, I talk with Sandra Guze, whose work I discovered at the exhibit where we both have work on view. Her solo show, A Woman of a Certain Age, filled a whole gallery with sewn paper, repurposed objects, and 300 yards of pink tulle.What stayed with me most is how much of Sandra’s practice is experimentation. She works on many pieces at once and doesn’t force a resolution. A pair of toddler panties sat on her worktable for a year and a half before she realized they belonged in another piece. A poem and a World War II life jacket took a couple of years to become a video installation. Right now she’s experimenting just to experiment, sewing panty liners, filling wax paper packets with Barbie accessories, and wondering if they might become a quilt. She also still has a roll of foil duct insulation she hasn’t figured out how to use.If you’re stuck on a piece, this conversation is a reminder that it’s okay to let it sit, and to play in the meantime.https://sandraguze.weebly.com/ https://substack.com/@sandraguze Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

In this solo episode of Season 3, I’m sharing my own art journaling practice: how it began in 2007, how it has changed over the years, and why I’m returning to it now.I’m also announcing the Creative Detour, a 7-week experimental workshop (November 3 to December 20) built on weekly scavenged-material prompts. Want a taste first? Join me for the free preview, “The Scenic Route,” on Friday, October 30 at 12 noon Eastern. Email me or DM me on Instagram for the Telegram group link.Know an artist I should interview, or a sustainability-minded company that might sponsor the show? Send suggestions to [email protected]://www.ecoloop.art/creative-detour-reimagine Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

Please enjoy my conversation with Julie Peppito. Julie transforms the waste of our culture into objects of strangeness and beauty.  She has been creating sculptures, tapestries, and installations that are about connection, repairing the Earth, and the human condition for over 30 years. She creates sewn, painted and sculpted narratives that show connections between people and the planet we share. She salvages the excess of societal waste, transfiguring almost everything she finds — mangled wire, rubber toys, jewelry scraps, and much more — into precise constructions. AND she is an amazing artivist as well - creating the most gorgeous signs for all the important protests.This is an important and timely conversation, and the most political episode yet. Please enjoy!Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

Join me for an exciting solo episode! From Soviet-era thrifting to plastic masterpieces, I share my journey of creative reuse, the thrill of organizing the Salvage Art Summit, and my mission to transform waste into art. I cannot wait to share it all with you—get ready to see trash as treasure!https://www.salvageartsummit.com/Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

In my first solo episode, I announce the Salvage Art Summit—a free, virtual event (September 24–26) for artivists who transform waste into art and champion sustainability. I’ve gathered artists, activists, and wellness practitioners to share techniques, strategies, and tools to fuel our creative resilience. Registration opens September 3—join the waitlist at SalvageArtSummit.com for early access!Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

I loved talking with Reece Brice, whose mushroom sculptures turn plastic waste into something magical. Each piece is a single bottle, transformed by heat and imagination into organic, glowing forms—like a forest of mycelium breaking down the past and growing a new future. His installations, lit from within with fishing line ‘roots’ and dancing light, feel alive, almost breathing. Reece sees plastic not as trash, but as a material waiting for its next life, and his mushrooms are a poetic reminder that repair is possible—if we just learn to listen to nature’s quiet genius.https://reecebrice-art.shopstar.co.za/ https://www.instagram.com/reecebrice.art/https://humanities.uct.ac.za/michaelis/contacts/reece-bricehttps://www.lumenocity.art/artists-alley/reece-brice https://humanities.uct.ac.za/michaelis/articles/2024-11-05-michaelis-alumni-reece-brice-showcases-work-ucts-idm Biophilia, book by Edward Wilson https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674074422Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist,policy expert,writer https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com/ Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

Theda Sandiford has had a treasure box since she was three years old. These days it's a series of labeled plastic bins — but the impulse is exactly the same. In this conversation, the fiber artist and activist (whose work is now in the Guggenheim collection, no big deal) talks about salvaging marine debris on the beaches of St. Croix, deconstructing a six-inch tow rope down to individual fibers, dyeing wine corks indigo, and why cleaning ocean waste is somehow more meditative than doing laundry. We also get into collective healing through crochet, reading neighborhood gentrification through street trash, and the 20-year paper doll project that's still in progress. Come for the art, stay for the Depeche Mode jean jacket story.https://thedasandiford.com/ https://www.instagram.com/misstheda/https://thedasandifordart.com/Contemporary African Art Fair https://www.1-54.com/https://elanatsui.art/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/grandmacore-aesthetic-anti-aging-fearsSupport the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

🌊 Dive into Currents of Connection: A Tapestry of Art, Water, and Repurposed Magic! 🌊In this episode of Salvage, we’re wrapping up our three-part series on Currents of Connection — a breathtaking 32-foot collaborative artwork by the Repurposer Collective. Each artist took a piece of the puzzle, weaving ocean current maps with photos of clouds and waves, all crafted from repurposed materials. The result? A fluid, multidisciplinary masterpiece that celebrates water as the ultimate connector.From Michelle’s hand-stitched layers to Judie’s glow-in-the-dark thread experiments, Maureen’s plastic-sewing adventures, and Patty’s crumpled-paper mountains, every block tells a story. Hear how these artists tackled challenges, embraced limitations, and discovered new techniques — all while creating something far greater than the sum of its parts.Tune in to hear their laughter, insights, and the sheer joy of seeing their individual visions flow together into a stunning, cohesive whole. Whether you’re an artist, an eco-warrior, or just a lover of creativity, this episode will leave you inspired — and maybe even itching to join the next collaborative project!🎧 Listen now and ride the wave of repurposed artistry!Michelle Sirois-Silver https://www.michellesirois-silver.com/ Judie PayneMaureen Farmer https://www.maureenfarmerfiberart.com/ Patty Gates https://www.instagram.com/gates.patty/ Teresa Stoller https://www.instagram.com/beachdreamsstudio/ Nancy Turbitt https://nancyturbitt.com/ Mindy Kombert https://www.plasticandpearls.com/ Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/ 

In this episode, I'm sharing a recording of a live panel event I hosted at MAPSpace gallery during Repurposer Collective's second annual exhibit. I'm joined by two incredible artists, Anne Percoco and Cindy Pease Roe, for a conversation about their practices transforming found materials and waste into compelling works of art. Anne shares projects ranging from a sculpture made of over a thousand water bottles on a sacred Indian river, to street trash shaped into oysters and leaves. Cindy talks about her 15 years working with marine debris — including a 14-foot great white shark installed at Cape Cod — and her nonprofit UpSculpt, which brings ocean plastic education into schools. Facilitated by Beyond Plastics, we cover everything from storage and cleaning techniques to health precautions, the role of artists in addressing climate change, and what it really feels like to pick up trash in public. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!https://www.cindypeaseroe.com/https://annepercoco.carbonmade.com/https://www.beyondplastics.org/ https://www.upsculpt.com/https://www.rebeccasolnit.net/Support the showThis podcast was created by Natalya Khorover. It was produced and recorded by Natalya, as well as researched and edited by her. SALVAGE is a product of ECOLOOP.ART.If you enjoy this show, please rate and review us wherever you’re listening—and be sure to come back for another conversation with a repurposed media artist. Music theme by RC GuidaVisit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.comVisit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.comVisit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/