Lola Akinsola Artist Statement

I do the work I do because I just simply like it. I get the assignment and own the requirements. What I mean by that is that I sort of take the black and white requirements and color them in my favorite colors. The requirements are still there, you just see my likings all over them. My goal was always to try and help as much as I can to clean up the world and stop trashing it and harming the animals.

The way I make decisions when it comes to my work is pretty simple. I just do what I like. I always have my own idea of things so I take that idea out of my head and into the art. I select materials by determining the difficulty of working with them and if it will open eyes. I do this because I don’t want my art to be something everybody has been before. I want my art to be unique so I take risks and use odd things. I chose to sew the bag by hand because I wanted to feel like a sewing machine. Usually people just take the easy way out and use a sewing machine. I wanted to see what the sewing machine went through even though it is an inanimate object. It still uses up energy and part of my inspiration for this bag was saving resources and energy and keeping the ocean clean because these Caprisun pouches end up right in the water or just on the floor somewhere.

My current work, stated before, is a handbag made entirely out of Caprisun juice pouches. I never thought of where these Caprisun pouches went when they are thrown away until I was given this assignment. I was looking up ideas for my project while I was drinking a Caprisun. Then I looked up a Caprisun bag and there it was. I went home and started thinking more of where the pouches go and it drove me deeper and made me more interested in making this bag. Also, I am a bit interested in the fashion world so it just made it all the more exciting. I was going to get a sewing machine but I figured it would defeat the purpose of babying the world and not harming it anymore. I am attempting to make recycled art fashionable. I may even start making accessories and clothes out of recycled things.