Juan Hinojosa, New York, United States

As the first-born child of two Peruvian immigrants in America,  Juan Hinojosa became absolutely obsessed with all aspects of American culture. As a child, the desire to have more than the family could afford became a constant struggle. This led to his obsession with collecting everything he could get his hands on. "I crisscross the city, accumulating discarded ready-made items and picking up pieces of trash, in order to repurpose them as resources to create collages and installations. Constructing art with exclusively found materials has changed the way I look at my own trash and the trash around me. Much like my Peruvian ancestors before me, I am using the surrounding “environment” to create something new."

As a “green artist,” Juan believes that he has a responsibility to reduce his waste and the waste in his community, and he accomplishes this by turning debris and case offs into art. Each object is extremely precious, as he does not duplicate them in any way.  He mixes high-end products with low-end goods, mashing up two polar opposites that do not normally go together.  "Similar to many people in America, I am conflicted by consumerism, and my art works are a result of my own bad habits, desires, and classic American greed."