vanessa barragão upcycles industrial textile waste with the handcrafted ocean tapestry

portugal-based studio vanessa barragão produces textile products by utilizing wasted yarns salvaged from the industry. the textile industry is among the most polluting in the world, with such chemical processes as fiber treatment and dyeing, energy consumption by production machinery, and disposed fabric waste. barragão recognizes the harmful effects of these processes, particularly on the oceans which absorb 90% of the excess heat trapped in the earth’s atmosphere. the top few meters beneath the ocean surface store as much heat as earth’s entire atmosphere. should the ocean heat up too rapidly, such species as coral and algae are threatened.

barragão upcycles wasted industrial fibers to create the ocean tapestry, an homage to the ocean, the origin of life on earth.

images courtesy of studio vanessa barragão

the ocean tapestry by studio vanessa barragão represents planet earth’s vast area of salt water as well as the importance of circularity in every natural environment. this effort toward upcycling demonstrates the artist’s refusal to contribute to the production of industrial waste and energy. all materials are reclaimed from the deadstock of local factories, cleaned, and utilized for hand crafted, artisanal works. barragão makes use of such ancestral techniques as latch hook, felting, knitting, macrame and crochet to produce oceanic motifs which are integrated into the tapestry.