Sustainability: Repurposing Textile Wastes for Visual Artwork Using “Orifabrics”

Abstract

In an attempt to solve the sustainability problem of textile waste occasioned by fast fashion was investigated. These textile wastes were envisioned as a medium to form “orifabric”, which was arranged artistically to depict a visual artwork (cityscape). Visual artworks are rendered through painting, drawing, printing, and photography for numerous purposes. However, in this study, “orifabric” was used as a technique for visual artwork creation. The study used a practice-led research approach. Textile wastes collected from garment manufacturers and female consumers were processed. Thereafter, orifabric technique was used to form the sonobe cubes (SCs) for visual artwork production. These SCs were divided into four different categories and artistically arranged on six panels that made the cityscape. The findings revealed that a total of 109.54 yards of textile waste were used to create an artwork (cityscape) for indoor and outdoor decorations. This revealed that nonconventional techniques of visual artwork creation do not only create appealing artwork but also consume a huge amount of textile waste for artwork production. The outcome did not only simulate the ambience of the indoor and outdoor spaces, but also helped to address the sustainability challenges posed by fast fashion.

Keywords:

• Textile waste
• orifabric
• sustainability
• repurposing
• visual artworks

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Oyewole Adenle

John Oyewole Adenle (Ph.D.) is a sculptor and art educator in the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, Nigeria. He teaches sculpture and art education at different levels. He is a member of the Society of Nigerian Artists, the Sculptors’ Association of Nigeria (ScAN), Origamy Society of Nigeria, and Africa Arts Association (AfrAA). A Fellow of Arts in Medicine Fellowship, Nigeria. He is a multi-media artist who embraces GOING-GREEN, exploring and researching solid (degradable and non-degradable) materials and redirecting them into artistic spectacles. He had participated in local and international exhibitions. He is currently the unit head, Visual Arts, Department of Creative Arts.

Oluwambe Akinmoye

Oluwambe Akinmoye (Ph.D.) is an Industrial Designer with specalization in textile/fashion design. He is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Mountain Top University, Nigeria. He holds Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), Masters of Technology (M.Tech.) and Ph.D. in Industrial Design (Textile Design) from Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State. He is a member of Textile Society of Nigeria (TSN) and Textile Researchers Association of Nigeria (TRAN). Equally, he is a fellow of Global Art in Medicine and Ife Institute of Advanced Studies. He has his research works published both in local and international reputable journals. His areas of research include: crafting smart textile, studios and cottage textile production, sustainable textile and fashion/garment production, textile craft for well-being, continuous improvement and waste elimination in the ready-to-wear garment production through adoption of lean manufacturing techniques. [email protected]