This Earth Day, we celebrate the remarkable artists who help protect our planet through sustainable practices in their work.
Sustainable art includes salvaging recycled materials and breathing new life into everyday objects. At Art Pharmacy, we prioritise sustainability in every artist partnership we cultivate. We have partnered with several artists who place sustainability at the heart of their practice.
Artist Spotlight: Jonathan Ben-Tovim
Jonathan Ben-Tovim is a Melbourne-based industrial designer with an eye for potential where most people see waste. He explores the process of recontextualising found objects and materials. Furthermore, he uses their existing narratives to build entirely new meanings. Sustainability drives every decision he makes, from the materials he sources to the stories his finished pieces tell.
In our project with Charter Hall, Ben-Tovim installed Cloud Vortex. The piece is made of beaten car bonnet panels salvaged from car wreckers in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Additionally, the work translates the raw energy of Melbourne’s weather into a surreal vortex of metallic panels. From below, it reads as flat and spiral. From above, its three-dimensional form comes alive, shifting with every change in perspective.
Cloud Vortex reflects Jonathan’s broader commitment to sustainable practice. He transforms salvaged automotive panels into works that speak to recovery and renewal. As a result, discarded materials find new life through a process of crushing, reshaping and refinishing.
Artist Spotlight: Patrizia Biondi
Patrizia Biondi is a Sydney-based visual artist who works with salvaged resources including timber, paper and plastic. She transforms discarded materials into collectible works of art. Furthermore, she challenges how we connect to the objects we throw away and what it means to weave sustainability into the cycle of consumption.
In our project with Rosebery Engine Yards, Patrizia created Timber Tapestries. Art Pharmacy commissioned this large-scale artwork from repurposed timber salvaged directly from the existing site. Additionally, the timber was reclaimed and treated to withstand the elements, giving it a second life at the very location it came from. Multiple overlapping lengths of timber, each unique in character, fuse seamlessly with the building’s architecture.
Timber Tapestries is one of many sustainable pieces Patrizia has brought into the world. She aims to honour the lifecycle of materials by giving discarded objects renewed purpose and meaning. Ultimately, her work invites us to reflect on the way we consume, discard and value the things around us.
Artist Spotlight: Jessie French
Jessie French is a Sydney-based artist developing innovative work with sustainable materials. Her practice sits at the intersection of ecology, science and human behaviour. Moreover, she has developed her own unique techniques for working with algae-based polymers, making sustainability the foundation of her art.
Art Pharmacy partnered with Jessie on the Deloitte Quay Quarter Tower Art Collection. Two of her pieces featured in the collection: Vessel from the Deep (I-III) (2023) and Liquid Fossil Portal (2023). Both are constructed from algae-based material, incorporating one of the organisms responsible for generating the oxygen atmosphere that made life on Earth possible. Additionally, the pieces are delicate yet thought-provoking, making them a perfect sustainable addition to Deloitte’s innovative collection.
Jessie French continues to introduce works that bring sustainable art practices to new heights. She grounds her art in materials that are ancient, living and renewable. As a result, she invites us to think differently about what we can create with everything around us.
Why This Matters
Jonathan, Patrizia and Jessie share a refusal to see discarded materials as worthless. In their hands, car bonnets become sculptural vortices, salvaged timber becomes architectural poetry, and ancient algae becomes a window into what art can be. Furthermore, each piece asks us to look differently at the objects we usually overlook.
At Art Pharmacy, we prioritise purpose-driven creativity. Sustainability shapes the decisions we make and the stories we tell. This Earth Day, we are proud to stand alongside artists who are reimagining what creativity can look like when the earth comes first.
Happy Earth Day, art lovers!
About Art Pharmacy
Art Pharmacy is a B Corp-certified art consultancy working with developers, architects and government agencies to deliver public art strategies, artist commissions and integrated cultural programs.
We specialise in embedding art into major developments, public spaces, transport infrastructure, and commercial buildings.
Article by Josie Lawrence