Please enjoy my conversation with Jackie Wolf-Schmidt. Jackie Schmidt is a found materials fashion designer and shoe creator from Los Angeles, California. She received her BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology, focusing on creating sustainable pieces with materials such as aluminum cans, bottle caps, plastic bags, belts, and many more found objects. She then transforms the materials into wearable art pieces, filled with lots of color and fun textures that will make heads turn when entering into a room.

https://www.jwolfschmidt.com/
https://www.instagram.com/jwolfschmidt/#

Art Institute of Chicago https://www.artic.edu/

Fashion Institute of Technology https://www.fitnyc.edu/

Deadstock Fabric https://goodonyou.eco/brands-using-leftover-fabric/

https://www.plasticshed.org/

Paco Rabanne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paco_Rabanne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinky_Dinks 

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Please enjoy my conversation with Christina Massey.

Christina Massey is an award-winning artist recognized for her innovative use of repurposed materials, particularly aluminum cans, in creating vibrant botanical abstractions. Her multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, painting, and installation, exploring themes of environmental sustainability, consumer waste, and material transformation.

Christina creates botanically inspired installations, sculptural paintings, and glass works that explore the emotional landscape of climate change.

Using repurposed materials like aluminum craft beer cans, mesh produce bags, and discarded textiles, she transforms industrial waste into delicate, organic forms. This process challenges traditional notions of what is considered precious in sculpture while merging craft, sustainability, and contemporary art.

Christina’s work draws viewers into a space where beauty coexists with risk and unease—echoing how we experience our changing environment. Through these contrasts, she invites reflection on consumerism, environmental fragility, and the complex relationship between nature and human behavior.

https://www.cmasseyart.com/

https://ps122gallery.org/

https://artcake.org/

https://lmcc.net/lmcc-arts-center-at-governors-island/

https://www.cmasseyart.com/dance-collaboration-norte-maar-counterpointe12

https://www.bravinlee.com/current-exhibition

https://www.guerrapaint.com/

https://urbanglass.org/

https://www.brooklynartscouncil.org/

https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com/ Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

Dr.Johnsons book - What If We Get It Right? https://www.getitright.earth/

Dr.Johnsons podcast - What If We Get It Right? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-if-we-get-it-right/id1773809532 

Dr. Kate Marvel https://www.marvelclimate.com/

https://www.instagram.com/woartblog/?hl=en 

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

In this special episode of Salvage, the tables turn - my dear friend Vivien Zepf interviews me. Instead of me asking the questions, Vivien dives into my story: from my early days in fashion and costume design, to discovering repurposed plastics as my medium, and to how my art practice evolved into both a personal expression and an environmental call to action. We talk about curiosity, experimentation, and how I balance the beauty of art with the urgency of raising awareness about plastic pollution.

We also dig into the Repurposer Collective, the community I’ve built for artists working with discarded materials. I share how we connect, collaborate, and create together - including the inside story of our ambitious new project: a 32-foot collaborative artwork that will be unveiled on October 4. It’s a conversation about transformation, community, and finding meaning in the materials that surround us.

https://www.vivienzepf.com/ 

https://www.surfacedesign.org/

https://tetonraptorcenter.org/

https://www.artanddesignhs.org/

https://www.pratt.edu/

https://www.felixgonzalez-torresfoundation.org/

https://www.patriciamiranda.com/

https://www.beyondplastics.org/

https://www.unisonarts.org/ 

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Please enjoy my conversation with Michelle Vania Beattie. 

Michelle is an intuitive artist known for her striking sculptures made from beach-found plastic, inspired by a lifelong connection to the ocean. Growing up in Plettenberg Bay, she collected what she called “mermaids tears”—a childhood fascination that returned years later in Kommetjie, where she discovered these were actually nurdles, raw plastic pellets. This revelation ignited her commitment to addressing ocean plastic pollution. 

Since 2020, Michelle has transformed the plastic debris she collects during beach cleanups into conceptual sculptures that raise awareness about environmental damage and consumer impact. Her work gives a voice to the ocean and calls for urgent change.

https://www.instagram.com/mishvania_art/?hl=en

https://www.manzart.com/collections/mishvania?srsltid=AfmBOoqzpU1CwX7EUrJXYeZ28X8tPcfZh2bGGc34HBKGWlG9YGZW14wr 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurdle_(bead)

https://www.inkbox.co.za/

https://www.facebook.com/p/Relevant-Art-Gallery-61573709015808/

https://woordfees.co.za/en/ 

https://openstudioskommetjie.com/ 

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Please enjoy my conversation with Loren Eiferman. 

Over many decades Loren has created a unique technique of working with naturally found wood. Her organic wood sculptures take the detritus from nature and turn it into art. 

Loren wants the viewer to have a sense of wonder and awe when looking at her work.  We have all at one point or another picked up a stick from the ground—touched the wood, peeled the bark off with our fingernails.  Loren’s work taps into that same primal desire of touching nature and being close to it.

https://www.loreneifermanart.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/loreneiferman 

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/ 

https://www.hanshofmann.org/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beinecke_Rare_Book_%26_Manuscript_Library

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Blossfeldt 

https://www.hammondmuseum.org/ 

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Please enjoy my conversation with Carli Vergamini. 

Just a girl trying to change the world, that’s Carli. What started as a creative outlet eventually turned into a resourceful smorgasbord of repurposing vintage jackets & dilapidated kiddie pools. 

It all began when Carli wanted to make stuff with leather but didn’t know where to find any (spoiler: it was thrift stores). Add getting grossed out by her own consumption habits & here she is today making cool, wearable stuff out of trash.

 Because there's already enough cool stuff in the world without starting from scratch making something new.

https://www.cravebycrv.com/ 

Carli’s IG https://www.instagram.com/cravebycrv 

Carli’s shop CRAVE by Carli Rae Vergamini https://www.cravebycrv.com/shop

Carli’s clothing repair clinic https://www.cravebycrv.com/event-details/clothing-repair-clinic-2025-07-27-11-00

Carli’s blog https://www.patreon.com/cravebycrv 

Buy Now, The Shopping Conspiracy on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/81554996

Amy Meissner, extraordinary artist and repair master https://www.amymeissner.com/

Katrina Rodabaugh, author, artist, mender  https://www.katrinarodabaugh.com/ 

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Please enjoy my conversation with Pauline Galiana. 

Pauline engages simultaneously with a wide range of artistic practices, including collages, paintings, drawings, ephemeral installations, small-scale sculptures, performances, and videos. Her work incorporates both noble and mundane materials; regardless of the medium or method, the source materials are typically deconstructed, reconstructed, and hybridized. 

Pauline wastes nothing. Her processes are obsessive and meditative, involving meticulous planning and patient execution. When applied to materials of varying forms, resilience, and textures, the otherwise ordinary actions of drawing, looping, sticking, or sewing become transformative. By expressing instinctive states of mind through formal compositions, often involving rigorous grids, she extracts meaning from unexpected encounters and entropy. Bridging the gap between fine art and everyday utilitarian objects and materials, Pauline invites viewers to reconsider the boundaries of sustainability and reflect on conventional art forms.

https://www.paulinegaliana.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/paulinegaliana/

Pauline’s videos: https://vimeo.com/user41579259

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Please enjoy my conversation with Benjamin Von Wong. 

Get ready for a wild, inspiring ride with this artist & activist. From mining engineer to creator of viral installations like Plastic Tap and Plasticphobia, Benjamin shares how he fell (literally!) into a life of purpose, using art to make climate issues unforgettable.

Giant faucets, 10,000 plastic bottles, mermaids, phoenixes, and community-powered change—this one's not to miss.

Benjamin Von Wong's work lies at the intersection of fantasy and photography and combines everyday objects with shocking statistics. It has attracted the attention of corporations, like Starbucks, Dell, and Nike and has generated over 100 million views for causes like ocean plastics, electronic waste, and fashion pollution. Benjamin says that he is an artist focused on amplifying positive impact. His mission is to help make positive impact unforgettable.

https://www.vonwong.com/ 

United Nations https://www.un.org/en 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_High_Commissions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

Cop 16 https://www.cbd.int/conferences/2024

Ocean Plastic Leadership Network https://opln.org/

Downloadable Plastic Tap Project vonwong0.gumroad.com/l/giantplastictap 

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Please enjoy my conversation with Niki Lederer. Discarded and found objects are Niki’s starting point. She makes sculptures from repurposed umbrellas and post-consumer plastic that she harvests from curbside recycling, garbage cans and the street. Niki finds the colors intoxicating, and can’t resist collecting them. The sheer volume of recyclables and broken umbrellas creates an endless and overwhelming supply of material. Back in the studio Niki processes her finds by thoroughly cleaning them and removing all branding on the bottles and armatures from the umbrellas. Then she dissects these materials so that she can reconfigure them to make sculptures.

https://nikilederer.com/ 

https://sva.edu/events/plasticulture 

https://gagosian.com/artists/jeff-wall/

https://hunter.cuny.edu/

https://gagosian.com/artists/nancy-rubins/

https://www.artanddesignhs.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_Sugar_Refinery

https://www.anthonycaro.org/

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/

Please enjoy my conversation with Meredith Andrews aka Plastic Mermade.

 Contemporary portrait, travel and lifestyle photographer Meredith Andrews has shot for editorial, advertising and private clients all over the world. Based on the sub tropical island of Bermuda, where she finds much of her inspiration. 

Her work can be seen in almost every medium including dozens of international exhibitions such as the 2009 and 2019 Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize at National Portrait Gallery in London, UK, Portrait of Humanity 2020, OpenWalls Arles 2020, the Copenhagen Photo Festival, a solo show at the Bermuda National Gallery in 2021, a silver winner of the Association of Photographers awards, the BJP International Photography Award, the Royal Photographic Society International exhibition and the PHOTO IS:REAL Festival all in 2022. 

Most recently Meredith’s work was exhibited at the Women Street Photographers exhibition in NYC, Miami Art Week and Apollo’s Decathlon, Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad at Château de Montsoreau in France.

https://meredithandrewsphotography.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/meredithphoto 

https://www.instagram.com/plastic_mermade 

https://www.gold.ac.uk/

https://www.uwcatlantic.org/

https://www.mcgill.ca/

https://www.marimekko.com/us_en

Bermuda National Gallery https://bng.bm/  https://bng.bm/a-collector-at-heart/ 

Documentary about Meredith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aktHI8iZiA0&t=387s

Keep Bermuda Beautiful https://www.kbb.bm/

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, author All We Can Save and What If We Get It Right? https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com/ 

Sam Bentley Good News https://www.youtube.com/@itsSamBentley

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/whimsical-legos-are-still-washing-ashore-decades-after-they-were-lost-at-sea-180979580/ 

This 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 Guida

Visit Natalya’s website at www.artbynatalya.com

Visit Natalya’s community at www.repurposercollective.com

Visit Natalya’s workshops at https://www.ecoloop.art/