Sustainable Creatives at OCAD U: Bhavana Jalali, 4th-year Material Art & Design student
Interview and Video by Aashish Arora
Today’s conversation features Bhavana Jalali, a 2nd year Material Art and Design student with a focus on textiles and jewelry. She moved to Canada from India for post secondary education and she is often inspired by the multi cultural essence of Toronto and tries to reflect that in her art and design practice.
What does sustainability personally mean to you and how it is reflected in your work and process?
Growing up the youngest in my family, I often reused clothes and belongings of my elder brother, sister, parents, aunts, etc. Sustainability was a natural choice for me. The fashion industry is one of the most harmful to our environment and I strongly believe in repurposing items by reusing, recycling or recreating them.
A brief summary of your project
My project involves the creation of a handbag, pouch and wristwatch using denim from an old pair of jeans that were no longer fit for my wearing. All items were hand-sewn by me.
What inspired you to include sustainability in your creative process and thinking? I felt that sustainability would save me time, money and more importantly, it would save our environment of some denim waste.
Any advice that you would like to give to your fellow peers
An advice I have adopted and would love to give to my peers is to consider the number of ways an item can be used every time one makes a purchase.
Source: https://fashiontakesaction.com/facts/
About the Author
My name is Aashish Arora, and I am in fourth year Graphic Design at OCAD University. I have been working as a student monitor for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Sustainability for the past two years. I started the Sustainable Creative Video Interview series, to help showcase the work of students and their interests relating to sustainability.
My personal understanding of sustainability is this idea of thinking inclusively, when making decisions while spending. From a young age, my mother taught me about this “want or need” concept. Growing up, I was always asked to explain a reason before I bought anything new, and I always had to justify my need for any purchase. This is how sustainability started to become a part of my lifestyle.
Growing up in India, I have seen the people there shift from traditional practices, like drinking tap water to buying single-use plastic water bottles, which is an environmental impact. I have also witnessed the quality of water decreasing, because of those industrial needs that people have created. This had inspired me to education myself on these issues, and to be more cautious when making my lifestyle decisions.
I think that sustainability education and community involvement are both important, in the way that it can help people share their ideas of sustainable practices. I hope that this series will help fellow students and viewers to learn more about sustainability.
We want to know how you are adapting to your art & design practice while studying remotely! To participate in the Sustainable Creatives series, email [email protected].
