Art products from recycled jeans

Nguyen Lan Anh and her work Chua Cau from recycled jeans. Photo provided by Ecodenim.

From handicraft products

Artist Pham Minh Long graduated from the Faculty of Industrial Fine Arts, University of Fine Arts in Ho Chi Minh City. After many years working in Saigon and Hanoi, he had the idea of ​​developing different products. Through time of learning and approaching many trends in the world , he chose for himself the path of developing products on scrap jean fabric.

According to Pham Minh Long, he learned that every year, billions of used jeans are thrown into landfills around the world, causing environmental harm. Jeans are very durable because they are produced with special technology, of course, it takes a lot of resources to produce jeans.

“After a period of testing, I chose scrap jeans as raw material for production, because the spread on the fabric after washing has a strong artistic quality, and the durability of the fabric is guaranteed when reused,” said Minh Long.

To develop the idea of ​​recycling jeans in Vietnam, Minh Long started building the “Recycled Jeans” page on Facebook. Up to now, the page has more than 10 thousand members. On this page, they share creative ideas, designs and recycling experiences to produce many different handicrafts, as well as decorative items with scrap jeans.

Realizing the convenience of the tourism environment in Hoi An, which can reach many foreign tourists who love handicrafts and recycling, and can promote recycled jean products, at the end of 2024, Pham Minh Long boldly opened a store to introduce his products here under the brand name Ecodenim.

...to works of art

Not stopping at handicraft products recycled from jeans, Pham Minh Long and his colleagues are always struggling to find ways to create fine art from this material. After many times of research, seeing that Hoi An's landscape is rich in materials to create creative topics, they came up with the idea of ​​making a landscape painting on the theme of the Japanese Covered Bridge using scrap jeans.

Interior space of Ecodenim production facility. Photo: Ha Thuy

The person who directly created this work is Nguyen Lan Anh, a young “Gen Z” artist who studied at the Graphic Design Department of FPT College. To realize the idea, Nguyen Lan Anh used the collage technique, a genre of painting originating from France that was introduced to Vietnam by American artists in the 1960s. After completion, the painting was displayed by the author at the Chua Cau space.

Many visitors were surprised by the 2m long painting of Chua Cau made from scrap jeans, displayed in the real-life space here. Nguyen Lan Anh said: “In the process of producing handicraft products for consumption on the basis of scrap jeans, we gradually expanded to the field of decorative art products. Then, realizing that Hoi An has many beautiful street corners, especially Chua Cau, we were determined to create an art work on this topic.”

According to Lan Anh, the first difficulty is that the jean material is limited in color to convey the idea. The second is the cutting and pasting technique, handling the pieces smoothly and reasonably. Therefore, after the first few days of starting to do it, she had to throw everything away, continue to research and learn more deeply to be able to solve that problem. To complete this painting, she had to concentrate for months.

“I feel so lucky and happy that this work is loved by many tourists and locals. I have also created many other fine art works. When I have enough conditions, I will launch a small exhibition about Hoi An landscapes created with scrap jeans,” Lan Anh said.

Amelia Jones, a female tourist from Australia, said: “We really like your recycled handicrafts from scrap in Hoi An. Your creativity, combined with your skillful and patient craftsmanship, have created beautiful, unique products at very reasonable prices. The Chua Cau painting in particular is absolutely wonderful because it is the first time I have seen a painting made from recycled materials like this.”

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/san-pham-my-thuat-tu-vai-jean-tai-che-3152642.html