One Man’s Trash

Paper sculpture. Altered recycled paper, hand embroidery in silk, wool, cotton and metallic threads.

4x4x7 inches. 2026.

One Man’s Trash is a paper sculpture in the shape of a trash can. It’s pieced together from altered recycled papers in a patchwork-like pattern that mimics weathered galvanized metal. The tipped-over can, hand embroidered lichens, and spiderweb stretching across its empty opening suggest it has been sitting untouched for years.

This piece grew out of thinking about the objects we save because they’re “too nice” to use—the tablecloths, dishes, and silver that spend decades carefully protected in closets and cupboards. Somewhere along the way, their value shifts, and the things that were once considered priceless or precious often end up in a dusty thrift store bin with a fifty-cent price tag. One Man’s Trash asks what makes something worth saving, and how the stories we attach to things are often more valuable than the objects themselves.