The 2025 Glean Residency cohort is taking the concept of turning trash into art to new heights, featuring five artists who are breathing fresh life into discarded materials.
Artists involved include Epiphany Couch, Chris Lael Larson, and mai ide, alongside Diane Jacobs and Marsha Mack.
Each artist receives $2,000 and five months of exclusive access to the city’s collected garbage, contributing to an exhibition at a temporary gallery space in the Park Blocks from April 17 to May 25.
The program aims to spark conversations around waste reduction through the artists’ works, which are primarily made from the very refuse people dispose of.
Leslie Vigeant, the program manager, noted that attendees are often intrigued by the transformation of trash into art, regardless of their environmentalist beliefs.
She described the concept as a challenge to reconsider what is considered trash, thinking that maybe this trash isn’t trash.
Founded in 1990 by Recology in San Francisco, the Glean residency started as a way to promote recycling through art.
Portland’s program, launched as a pilot, is in its 14th year and is funded by Recology in partnership with Metro, the governing body overseeing the city’s waste management.
Local nonprofit ReClaim It also plays an integral role in the success of Portland’s Glean program.
During a visit to Couch’s studio in February, she shared her interest in turning discarded items into narratives that reflect the lives of those who once owned them.
She recounted finding legal documents amid the debris left after encampment sweeps and glimpsed the remnants of a brand-new nursery in the waste surrounding her.
One of her pieces—a collage made from found photographs—was crafted on salvaged wood in a pattern inspired by Salish weavings believed to carry transformative and protective qualities.
The collage tells the story of the anonymized lives and memories contained within the discarded photos, demonstrating Couch’s skill in combining art and storytelling.
What sets this residency apart is the diverse range of artists who participate, reflecting various backgrounds and artistic disciplines.
Couch, Larson, ide, Jacobs, and Mack are not just recyclers; they are established sculptors, photographers, and installation artists, creating works that transcend simple use of refuse.
Larson’s vibrant assemblages evoke feelings of childhood wonder, steering clear of any conventional associations with waste.
Vigeant praised the challenge Larson takes on, emphasizing the difficulty in creating art from discarded materials that feels vibrant rather than merely a commentary on consumerism.
Larson initially aimed to critique careless consumption but found himself wrestling with the bigger picture behind mass production and waste disposal.
During our conversation in his studio, he described the humorous irony in creating lively artworks from the grim reality of garbage.
His sculptures—colorful, vibrant, and reminiscent of childhood—often feature plastic toy parts and organizational items layered with vivid paper printed from found ink cartridges.
Larson expressed the importance of avoiding clichéd solutions that often accompany eco-friendly fashion statements, like creating dresses from recycled plastic bottles.
Ide, on the other hand, primarily works with textiles and sought to salvage and mend waste during her time at the Glean residency.
She shared her thoughts via email about her connection to discarded objects, relating to their brokenness and societal perceptions of worth.
For her Glean project, ide wrapped traffic cones in an eclectic array of fabrics, exploring themes of social repression and movement restrictions.
Focusing on such restrictions particularly regarding women and mothers, she referenced her own family’s skepticism about her choice to pursue full-time artistry.
During my observation, ide presented a traffic cone she had wrapped in bubble wrap, accentuating its absurdity.
The colorful, patterned cones created an illusion of infinity, reflecting the constraints imposed by societal norms.
Later, ide unveiled a corset fashioned from a discarded rug, hanging limply without a cinch, suggesting a dialogue between utility and aesthetic value.
The piece effectively contrasted the intended use of the rug—with its designated purpose of cleanliness—with the restrictive nature of the corset, which invokes sexual and societal constraints.
By discussing how to display the corset—either hanging like clothing or laying flat like a rug—ide and I explored the fluctuations of identity and expectation that both objects represent.
Through this collaboration between artists and waste, the Glean Residency advocates for more meaningful conversations about consumption, waste, and the intricate relationships we have with objects.
The culminating exhibition from this residency will showcase the remarkable works created from the city’s refuse, inviting the public to reconsider their relationship with waste.
image source from：https://www.pdxmonthly.com/arts-and-culture/2025/04/glean-artist-residency-garbage-dump-gallery
