Plastic Reimagined

Seeing really is believing. Take a closer look at this incredibly vibrant fine art by Joburg-based artist, Bumnandi.

This is plastic reimagined in the most creative and thoughtful way.

Want to help make a difference and #BeTheChange? On your next trip to Eastgate, bring your single-use plastic bags and drop them off here, knowing that they will not be going to a landfill, but helping save the environment in the most artistic way.

Having the vision to take a basic item and help it evolve into art has certainly helped shape Johannesburg-based artist, Bumnandi’s path.

His personal experience on the impact of plastic on the environment in township areas, is the reason for choosing this inexpensive material as his focus when creating his art.

Born in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, and raised in Buffalo City, Bumnandi and his friends used to make soccer balls out of plastic bags, because they could not afford real soccer balls. As kids, they were simply making means out of what was readily available in the village.

Oblivious to the fact that he was recycling a harmful material, he saw plastic bags in the same way he sees them today: a material that is easily accessible, colourful and very flexible.

Today, with plastic bags, he makes abstract representations of the human soul, of situations and all of life’s intangibles.

Bumnandi begins the process by heating the plastic so that it can attach itself to surfaces and to other plastics. He draws on the colours of plastics for the emotive direction of his works.

Because plastic can take centuries to completely break down, his aim is to do his part in protecting the environment by recycling plastic, and continuing to make meaningful art from the waste accumulating on the planet.

About Bumnandi

Bumnandi pursued his love for art and design by attending Lovedale College.

He is currently a third-year Bachelor of Fine Arts student at Rhodes University, majoring in Fine Arts Practice, Art History and Visual Culture.

Some of his achievements include being a finalist in the sculpture category of the PPC Imaginarium Awards 2019.

His work has been featured in two National Arts Festival group exhibitions. The first piece was a sculpture that he completed in his first year at Rhodes selected as part of the Rhodes NAF Fine Art student exhibitions 2018.

In the 2019 National Arts Festival, his work was part of a private group exhibition of emerging artists around the Eastern Cape.

Bumnandi believes that his art reveals beautiful stories and meaningful conversations, with a material that lasts almost forever.

Category: #BeTheChange, Blog