SPIRITED WASTE — Portraits of a Courageous Act

Aivaras Simonis x Juli Bolaños-Durman

‘Spirited Waste’ series, 2022. Aivaras Simonis in collaboration with Juli Bolaños-Durman. Photography: Aivaras Simonis

Featured in The Skinny — May 2022

The photographic series showcases the beauty of waste material being reimagined during a play session, a purposeful process focusing on approaching the unwanted with compassion and patience instead of contempt for what these represent.

The Costa Rican artist and the Lithuanian photographer came together for the first time to document this experimental dialogue between unwanted objects collected from the local community and their recycling bins.

A disposable coffee cup, a green plastic bottle, a make-up glass container, a piece of foam juxtaposed with embellished hand-cut glass, come together as three-dimensional portraits of courage.

Simonis’ attention to detail while taking intimate portraits of objects and Bolaños-Durman’s bold play with discarded materials, come together to materialise into spirited beings; driven by a courageous act of compassion and reinvention.

By giving breathing space to waste material, these have a chance to become anew with lots of capability for charm and depth. The ultimate purpose is to invite a shift in our perception on the potential of the waste and how we can reimagine it into something of beauty.