As reported in Around DB, two artists living near Hong Kong, Liina Klauss and Agnes Pang, specialize in turning recyclable waste into pieces of art in order to motivate others in the community to up their game when it comes to trash creation and disposal.
Agnes Pang’s art pieces are very simple – she deliberately keeps her works small for easy display and transportation. She uses unwanted items, for example foam netting, bricks, shells and toilet paper rolls, to create beautiful pieces of art which demonstrate to the public that the “rebirth of garbage” can bring joy and happiness.
“Art is like magic which can transform simple objects and ideas into delightful pieces. I feel like a magician when I turn things that people often neglect into something surprisingly beautiful,” Agnes says.

Agnes Pang with one of her works of art made from trash
Liina Klauss, a German art-activist who splits her time between Tong Fuk (near Hong Kong) and Bali, specializes in art installations made from the man-made and natural waste she finds on beaches and in country parks. Influenced by Berlin street-art and environmentalism, her installations not only challenge our perception of art but also our behaviour as consumers and responsibility for nature.
“When first coming across a non-gazetted beach in Hong Kong, I was shocked,” Liina opens. “These beaches looked like (and are still looking like) a dump. The sheer amount of rubbish made me feel totally helpless. Why wasn’t this in the news, in the papers, why did everybody look away? From there I had a choice to stay inactive and get depressed or use my own two hands, my voice and my creativity to do something about it.”
“I made the ugly look beautiful, I turned rubbish into rainbows and people started looking,” Liina says. “This was the start of my environmental art.