Timoh Garcia’s Reimagined Waste: “Art et Écologie” and the power of creative sustainability through street art

Written by Anne-Lise Mocanu, McGill University

Edited by Iris Bednarski

On January 12, 2024, while looking for an internship during my fourth semester at McGill University, I came across the art gallery L’Original. Located at 163 Saint-Paul West Street in the Old Port of Montreal, this underground gallery describes itself as “the home of Montreal's street art.” L’Original is built upon a core mission: to “collaborate with 20 local Montreal artists, specializing in street art, commission contemporary paintings and murals ranging from abstract to surrealism, while showcasing Quebec’s urban art pioneers and engaging them in projects that enrich the city’s artistic community.”[1] The curated experience at L’Original begins the moment visitors step inside. The descent into the gallery immerses them in a vivid display of graffiti with walls, traffic cones, and skateboards adorned in bold, eye-catching designs that embody the essence of the space. While I was getting familiar with the gallery, a staff member approached me to inquire about my favourite piece, a peculiar small canvas built out of recycled wood planks, with a graffitied truck painted over it on which you could read “Montreal Market.” My curiosity for the piece and its meaning led to a conversation that, unbeknownst to me, was with the gallery's owner, Dorian Verdier.

As I furthered my discussion with Mr. Verdier, I learned more about the artist whose work first piqued my interest, Timoh Garcia, and how he and his street artist colleagues found innovative ways to adapt their art for the interior setting. In fact, the artists at L'Original, accustomed to typically working outdoors and using materials from their immediate environment, namely the streets of Montreal, moved beyond the two-dimensional canvas through their works displayed throughout the gallery. This would then lead to creating mixed-media pieces that brought the raw materiality of the outdoors into an indoor space, making their art both marketable and uniquely engaging. I found this approach to art-making deeply inspiring, particularly for its ability to create a multi-layered impact on its audience.

Working primarily outdoors, street artists such as Garcia are acutely aware of the ecological impact of city life, observing firsthand the abundance of trash and waste left behind. Such an exposure deepens their consciousness of their own ecological footprint as both city dwellers and artists. This awareness is especially prevalent in Garcia’s art, in which he often incorporates discarded items like wood planks, street signs, and traffic cones to emphasize sustainability. Yet a closer look at his work reveals more than just a concern for ecology—it reflects a deep commitment to community. Indeed, through both his subjects and materials, the artist incorporates symbols of Montreal, with each element subtly hinting at its local origins. Therefore, “eco-art,” modelled by street artists like Garcia who engage deeply with their city, fosters reflection on how art can contribute not only to a healthier future, but also to a more unified community. This emphasis on community is a vital element to consider in the evolving landscape of ecological art.

My enthusiasm for Garcia’s artistic approach only deepened after joining the gallery as its newest intern. From my first encounter with his piece Montreal Market Food (Fig. 1), I began to reflect on how art, in its role of conveying powerful social messages, can inspire people—especially children, the next generation—to embrace a more eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle as a community. This essay will explore how eco-art serves as a tool to unite communities around a shared goal—building a cleaner environment—and how it fosters local identity, with each community's “trash” symbolizing the unique elements of its culture. To do so, I examine Garcia’s approach to repurposed art and analyze the environmental project his works inspired. I consider specifically Art et Écologie: Une Semaine, Un Objet, developed by L'Original throughout 2024 to teach schoolchildren from ages five through twelve how to recycle and transform collected street and household trash into art, inspired directly from Garcia’s street art techniques. Such an analysis of the artist and a case study of the project examines the role of repurposed found materials in visual art as both an art medium, and as a call-to-action for ecological living.

Figure 1. Timoh Garcia, Montreal Market Food, 2022, acrylic painting on urban materials, 25 x 40 in, L’Original Art Gallery, Montreal.

As previously mentioned, street artists are typically more in touch with their surroundings and therefore often bring forward in their art what they notice around them, in the environment and community they inhabit. Amidst the various social issues prevalent in Montreal, such as concerns with Indigeneity, gender, nationhood, language and sovereignty,[2] appears a broader social anxiety towards the declining state of the planet’s environment, primarily due to the rise of capitalism and human overconsumption. Though we are all aware of this fact and of the urgency of this crisis, creating a unified community around the shared goal of being more ecologically conscious has and continues to present a real challenge. Though, as a medium which has often been used by activists to spur change, art can present a possible solution to the climate crisis, or at least an opening to involve the general public. My time at L’Original made me particularly interested in how ecological art specifically made by street artists stands out through its quality in depicting a bond between artist and city, a bond translated culturally and environmentally. This connection between art and activism underscores the potential of street art to address environmental issues in ways that resonate deeply with urban communities. Just as street art seeks to reclaim public spaces and provoke thought, it parallels the need to reclaim attention for overlooked environmental concerns, such as the trash and pollution that quietly accumulate in cities like Montreal.

I find that street art is a powerful tool for such a mission through its inherent quality of being seen by a large number of people, coming from different backgrounds and with different mentalities. It is made for the public, and therefore to be understood by this general public composed of diverse individuals, making it more efficient for transmitting a lasting message.[3] These murals and graffiti exemplify “art in the service of social and political change [...] empowering those dispossessed by modernity's wasteful attributes.”[4] I focus specifically on how public art highlights and addresses such wasteful aspects for the purpose of solving them. Similarly to how street art gradually blends into the overall cityscape as time passes and eventually loses the full attention of its viewership, discarded trash and pollution on the streets of Montreal have also become largely overlooked by its citizens, necessitating efforts to bring them back into the awareness of the average passerby. Indeed, discarded trash and pollution can then serve as both subject and material in artistic practices that seek to reignite public awareness and foster a sense of responsibility toward the environment. But how can something so visible yet invisible—rarely the constant focus of a citizen’s attention whether in form or meaning—be brought to the forefront?

One potential obstacle to the full acknowledgment of street art’s significance—and the themes it brings into focus—is the anonymity surrounding its creators. While street art itself is large-scale, strategically placed in prominent urban locations, and openly visible to everyone, I often notice how its makers remain largely unseen. This lack of connection to the artists behind these works creates a disconnect that can prevent viewers from engaging meaningfully with the art and its message. I had recognized this invisibility prior to having the privilege of working with some of Montreal’s street artists, noting a lack of human presence even in the creation process of murals or graffiti which seemed to simply spawn out of thin air. This invisibility diminishes the potential for public engagement and dialogue.

Furthermore, as many murals in Montreal today are commissioned and subject to city approval, they often lose the rawness and authenticity that once made street art a medium of pure expression. In this way, the public nature of Montreal’s murals and graffiti may dilute their ability to fully convey the personal concerns and political messages of the artists, limiting street art’s capacity to serve as a tool for social critique. However, spaces like L’Original offer an alternative by creating a bridge between the public and the personal. As an indoor gallery that retains strong ties to the urban environment, it fosters meaningful interactions between street artists and their audience while providing a protected space for unrestricted creative expression.

In bringing the energy and raw materials of the streets into a curated setting, L’Original offers a unique platform where the public can engage more deeply with the messages and stories behind the art. The gallery’s founding team and artists see in street art not only a means to provoke awareness, but also a powerful tool to inspire tangible change. In recognizing this potential, they took the initiative to launch projects that bridge the gap between art and community action. Thus came the inspiration for the project Art et Écologie: Une Semaine, Un Objet, an ecological initiative designed to address the urgent ecological challenges of modern society while fostering collaboration between Montreal’s local street artists and citizens, uniting them in a shared effort toward sustainability.

Figure 2. Timoh Garcia, Excavation, 2020, acrylic painting on urban materials and handmade paper, 23 x 10 in, L’Original Art Gallery, Montreal.

The project Art et Écologie: Une Semaine, Un Objet was a year-long initiative designed to engage local artists and the community in a creative exploration of sustainability through art. Each week, an artist from the gallery was tasked with transforming a recycled object into a unique piece of art, showcasing the potential of upcycling while promoting ecological mindfulness. This ambitious endeavor unfolded in stages, beginning with partnerships between L’Original and local environmental organizations. These collaborations facilitated activities like “Clean Walks,” which brought together schoolchildren from local elementary schools, their educators, and community members to collect discarded materials from their surroundings. The collected items were then sorted and repurposed in educational workshops, where participants learned how to transform everyday waste into artistic creations. Thus, the project introduced concepts of affordability in creating art or any other products as “garbage is readily available everywhere and there is no cost to it while reducing the amount of waste in the form of art and helping to make it something useful.”[5] By fostering practical skills and ecological awareness, the project inspired participants of all ages to rethink their relationship with consumption and unite as a community around a shared goal: taking collective action to address the planet’s declining environment and build a more environmentally responsible future.

At the heart of this initiative lay the influence of Garcia, a multidisciplinary artist whose approach to art aligned perfectly with the project’s mission. Of Mediterranean origin and based in Montreal since 2018, Garcia draws from a rich background in the visual arts and audiovisual studies completed in Marseille and Paris. His art combines graffiti, painting, and assemblages of diverse materials collected during urban explorations. Guided by a deep observation of the modern world, Garcia’s work addresses themes of hyper-production, industrialization, and the pervasive impact of capitalist ideology on humanity and environment. Garcia’s process begins with collecting discarded materials such as street signs, woodplanks, cardboard and paper—objects that carry traces of human activity. These elements are then sorted, categorized, and assembled into unique canvases, where each piece contributes to a larger narrative about human impact and lost energy. His work often foregrounds forgotten machines such as old excavators (Fig. 2) or trucks, eroded by time and neglect, elevating them as noble remnants of human innovation. Through his art, Garcia invites viewers to reflect on impermanence and the duality of utility and waste, infusing even the most chaotic constructions with a sense of poetry.

Garcia’s thoughtful methodology made him a natural inspiration for Art et Écologie: Une Semaine, Un Objet, a project born from his very ethos. His ability to elevate overlooked materials into meaningful art served as the blueprint for the project, particularly in fostering community engagement and sustainability. Garcia’s art embodies the essence of eco-art, transforming discarded materials into meaningful creations that reflect the city of Montreal: “The use of local resources and vernacular techniques to produce crafted goods is strongly related to the sense of a place and its people, and thus defines it.”[6] Using wooden planks, repurposed road signs, and other locally sourced debris, Garcia gives new life to items often deemed worthless, grounding his work in the sociological and ecological identity of the city. By integrating Garcia’s artistic philosophy, the project achieved more than ecological awareness, it underscored the cultural value of trash and its potential for transformation.

Figure 3. Timoh Garcia, MTL, 2024, mixed technique on recycled materials, 36 x 36 in, L’Original Art Gallery, Montreal.

The Montreal-specific road signs and recurring subjects in Garcia’s work—graffitied cars, trucks and construction machines—highlight urban elements frequently overlooked or dismissed as “trash” or “trashed” (Fig. 3). Yet some of Garcia’s projects transcend the realism of Montreal’s streets through surrealist elements, such as the depiction of abnormally large vegetables and fruits painted onto or embedded within trucks and cars (Fig. 4). By fragmenting these automobile subjects and incorporating the vibrant imagery of produce at their core, Garcia juxtaposes man-made machinery—a hallmark of consumer-driven capitalist society—with the natural environment. These vehicles, notorious for their contribution to air pollution through fossil fuel emissions especially in bustling cities like Montreal, are reimagined in a new context. Here, the artist envisions them as carriers of an ecologically conscious message, transforming symbols of environmental harm into representations of hope. Garcia’s work then challenges viewers to reconsider their daily actions, such as driving, and to envision a future where even polluting instruments like cars can become part of a solution toward a more environmentally mindful society.

Graffiti, a form often misjudged as unsightly, is also reimagined in Garcia’s work as an integral and valuable aspect of Montreal’s cultural landscape, encouraging viewers to see beauty in what might otherwise go unnoticed. By placing these graffitied vehicles and repurposed materials at the center of his compositions, Garcia not only challenges societal perceptions of waste but also draws attention to the city’s pollution and discarded objects that have become invisible to its residents. In the esteemed setting of a gallery, where craftsmanship is expected, his works demand recognition and value, elevating both his subjects and materials. The transformation of trash into art invites questions about what is considered valuable and encourages a deeper awareness of the overlooked remnants of urban life.

Figure 4. Timoh Garcia, Rouge1, 2019, acrylic painting on urban materials, 13 x 20 in, L’Original Art Gallery, Montreal.

By recognizing the artistry in Timoh Garcia’s craft, viewers also come to understand the interconnected role of community members in this sustainable process. Montrealers’ consumption habits result in the trash that pollutes the city’s streets—streets that serve as both the inspiration and source for Garcia’s art. His transformative approach and connection to the city’s milieu would inspire the creation of Art et Écologie’s workshops, where the very community responsible for generating this waste united to clean the streets and provide materials for Garcia’s work. This cyclical process not only highlights the shared responsibility for addressing pollution, but also underscores the power of art to transform waste into something meaningful. Garcia’s practice ultimately inspires collective action and highlights the power of working together to address environmental challenges.

Garcia’s art symbolizes Montreal while also serving as a lesson for future generations, demonstrating how creativity and cooperation can drive meaningful change in the face of ecological crises. As Govind Prasad writes: “In the recycled arts, artists are trying to create new meanings out of it for future generations by arranging the objects in an entirely new idea and ways.”[7] In fact, the use of assemblage in art making—a technique that involves combining disparate materials into cohesive works—bears a striking resemblance to young children’s crafting practices like bricolage. This connection makes Garcia’s eco-art approach an excellent tool for teaching children about sustainable practices. His style, rooted in collecting and repurposing materials, aligns perfectly with children’s natural inclination toward “DIY art” projects, where creating something from scratch feels both fun and rewarding. For children aged 5 through 12, participating in such a project fosters an early understanding of ecological awareness, encouraging them to see waste as an opportunity for creativity and change. Learning through hands-on projects like bricolage helps children to develop practical skills and a mindset focused on sustainability, which they can carry into the future. This approach not only nurtures individual creativity, but also highlights the importance of collective effort, revealing how communities can come together to repurpose trash and make a positive impact on the environment. Ultimately, Garcia’s art and the project it inspired pave the way for a future generation of eco-conscious individuals who view art as a tool for change and collaboration, ensuring the lessons learned today have a lasting influence.

The project Art et Écologie: Une Semaine, Un Objet, led by Montreal’s L’Original gallery, demonstrates how creativity and community action can address ecological challenges while fostering educational opportunities. My aim in writing this study was to explore the value of eco-art in shaping identity and inspiring future generations toward sustainability. Focusing on the gallery’s street artists, I highlighted their unique ability to merge ecological awareness with artistic expression, using the streets as both canvas and inspiration. By combining sustainable practices with innovation, the project transformed discarded materials into valuable art, prompting participants to rethink waste. A central focus of the project was its success in engaging children, introducing them to sustainability in a fun and accessible way. Indeed, “ecological awareness and design for sustainability have revived the ideals of reusing and making from scrap,”[8] and this principle is brought to life through the project’s hands-on workshops. In these sessions, children learned assemblage techniques, transforming trash into art and exploring the creative potential of repurposed materials. This approach not only made the lessons enjoyable but also nurtured a sense of responsibility, helping children see waste as an opportunity rather than a problem. Garcia exemplifies this mission through his transformative approach to urban detritus, crafting art that not only addresses environmental issues but also celebrates Montreal’s cultural identity. His work forges a profound connection between place, people, and purpose, embodying the ethos of Art et Écologie: Une Semaine, Un Objet. Together, Garcia’s vision and the project enrich Montreal’s art scene, providing both children and adults with a pathway to ecological creativity and meaningful collaboration.

Endnotes

[1] “About Us: Our History,” L’Original Art Gallery, accessed November 25, 2024, https://loriginal.org/about-us/ .

[2] Anna Wacławek, “Pop culture and politics: Graffiti and street art in Montréal,” in Routledge Handbook of Graffiti and Street Art, 1st ed. (London: Routledge, 2016), 248 https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.4324/9781315761664.

[3]Julie Boivin, “14. Emerging Urban Aesthetics in Public Art: The Thresholds of Proximity,” in Public Art in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2009), 247, https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.3138/9781442697522-017. 

[4]Bruce Barber, “9. Cultural Interventions in the Public Sphere,” in Public Art in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2009), 163, https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.3138/9781442697522-012.

[5] Govind Prasad, “An Artistic Way to the Preservation of the Environment by the Use of Trash Art,” in International Journal of Literacy and Education, 1st ed. (Aligarh Muslim University, 2021), 75, https://www.educationjournal.info/article/12/1-2-1-638.pdf.

[6] Carlos Montana-Hoyos, and Lisa Scharoun, eds., “Adaptive Reuse in Craft, Design, and Art in the City,” in International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design, 8th ed. (University of Canberra, 2014), 4, https://eprints.qut.edu.au/123394/1/G14-a_46504_Final_OA.pdf.

[7] Prasad, “An Artistic Way to the Preservation of the Environment by the Use of Trash Art,” 75.

[8] Montana-Hoyos and Scharoun, “Adaptive Reuse in Craft, Design, and Art in the City,” 17.