Artist Statement
My anxiety oftentimes asks that I fidget while trying to less awkwardly navigate social settings. Even a small, plastic cup can create the needed distraction when surrounded by strangers. It’s a tactile experience that quiets the anxious noise. At a gallery opening, I was given a drink in a disposable, plastic cup. Instead of discarding it upon leaving, I carried it to my car where my fingers continued to explore its surfaces. I kept picking and playing and then began wondering: why is this cup destined to be disposed of?
Once home with my cup, I started researching plastics and plastic recycling. A few days later, I recycled my cup into a children’s toy. I began developing mechanical and chemical processes to transform plastic waste into tables, jewelry, and even poetry. I created products from the waste generated during my recycling processes. Single-use gloves recycled into trophies. Epoxy remnants rebirthed into stained glass. Waste became byproduct.
I see waste as an opportunity. I focus on why it is overlooked and how it can be reenvisioned. My practice is as much about creating as it is about engaging with the rejected and discarded to explore its beauty and utility.
About
Nathan Justice Moyer explores the wasted potential of discarded materials, transforming waste into both creation and solution while engaging with the rejected to explore its beauty and utility. As a designer, Moyer has spent more than a decade working with nonprofits throughout South Florida to develop and actualize their dreams of bettering our local and greater communities.
After 10 years of supporting the nonprofit world with graphic and web design services, Nathan founded the nonprofit Free Plastic, Inc. in 2019 to combat plastic pollution while creating products and works of art from ocean plastic and salvaged materials.