Aristide Kouame is an artist from the Ivory Coast who uses flip flops collected on the beach as the raw material for his works
No palette and colors: this the Ivorian artist reuses the plastic shoes that end up on the beach, transforming them into works of art.
While Aristide Kouame, 26, collects hundreds of abandoned flip-flops from the beach of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, bathers often take him for a simple volunteer or someone out of the ordinary.
They don't know that the boy carries these rubber fragments with him to cut them into pieces and create wonderful canvases.
When I go to collect (waste) people ask me questions like, "What are you going to do with it?", Are you going to sell flip-flops? ".
I reply simply by saying that I am an artist, I take the litter from the beach because I do not like to see it dirty
Kouamé says, showing a sack full of slippers partially eroded by the water.
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A post shared by Aristide Kouame (@aristide_kouame_peintre)
Sitting on the floor of a narrow alley, Kouamé sculpts shapes, letters and faces using his soles. He creates his painting by grinding what remains of the forgotten objects, so dangerous for the ocean and its biodiversity but at the same time essential for the creations of this young artist.
The raw material - unfortunately - is not lacking. According to the United Nations, approximately 13 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the world's oceans every year. These debris can be found scattered across many of West Africa's urban beaches, as garbage thrown into the city's canals is carried into the sea, returning to shore with the tide.
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A post shared by Aristide Kouame (@aristide_kouame_peintre)
They are waste that people leave in the sea, which brings them back to us because they don't want them. The environment does not want the negative things that the human being leaves behind.
Kouamé's works range from portraits of civil rights leaders to abstract paintings that evoke the great issues of contemporary society, such as climate change, COVID-19 and inequalities.
The artist's most recent work represents a woman and a child wearing masks, as if to evoke the classic scene of the Madonna and child.
This work is about COVID-19 because that's what dominates the news these days. As an artist I consider myself a witness of my time
Despite his short career, Kouamé is already considered one of the most original and provocative artists of the Ivory Coast. His technique is unique and his creations are exhibited both in Africa and in Europe.
One of his most important works, exhibited in the Eureka Art Gallery in Abidjan, consists of three large collages, each consisting of 140 portrait miniatures.
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A post shared by Aristide Kouame (@aristide_kouame_peintre)
Going for these flip flops on the beaches makes Kouamé a protagonist of nature conservation. Engraving the portraits on these slippers is a difficult and delicate job, and it is almost like finding their owners, thus telling a story. All these flip flops associated together are our world. I enjoyed this process, this involvement, both environmental and artistic
said Sandrine Marmisole, director of the Eureka Art Gallery.
These faces, to me, represent society. These faces side by side represent humanity and humanity needs an environment in which it is pleasant to live
added Kouamé.
Read also:
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- The giant mural inspired by Van Gogh made with 200 thousand plastic caps in Caracas
- This band will have you dancing Caribbean music to… garbage
- From the sea to the home, these volunteers transform marine litter into design objects
- The majestic sculptures made with automobile scrap and electronic waste to raise awareness of metal recycling
- Animals with recycled gears: the Turkish artist who transformed 30 tons of scrap into works of art
