Ailene Pasco knows we have a “plastic problem.” “It’s not just here in Nevada; it’s everywhere,” the Filipina American artist says. So she decided to put her crochet and sculpture talents to use making something sustainable out of single-use plastic bags. That’s how the Plastic Earth Project was born.
Pasco, a home-schooling mother of three and a coordinator for Clark County Public Arts, graduated from UNLV in 2019 after studying art history and sculpture there and at CSN. Recently, she applied through a competitive process and was awarded a grant for her project from the Nevada Arts Council.
This spring, she’s been getting the community involved with plastic bag yarn—aka “plarn”—workshops, teaching folks how to make the material and weave and it into durable objects that can be used as bags, sleeping mats and even home decor. “We can upcycle them to make them strong enough to last longer than just a one-time use,” she says.
The Weekly sat down with Pasco to learn more about her art, her advocacy and what’s in store with the Plastic Earth Project’s summer plans.
A piece of Pasco’s art
You’re focusing on single-use plastic bags right now. What other materials do you like to work with? I do all sorts of mediums—anything that can be turned into yarn. I’ve done wire, plastic yarn, paper yarn. I’ve actually tried Twizzlers, one time. It kept breaking on me. But I was onto something there.
I’ve seen crochet used in urban spaces as a form of street art—people crocheting cozies around trees or rails, for example. Have you ever done anything like that? Yes, yarn bombing! It’s when you leave crocheted items out in public. It’s beautiful. I recently participated in this organization called Liberty Crochet … about 25 of us crocheted pieces to put together as a bigger mural. And it went up at the San Francisco [School of Needlework and Design] to promote women’s empowerment and rights. That was really fun, doing it for a good cause.
I also participate in the worldwide organization Roses Against Violence. We crochet purple roses, sometimes rainbow, and we tag them with Roses Against Violence, and we leave them around town to create awareness of violence against women. It’s [an issue] I’m very passionate about.
Why do you do art? What keeps you coming back to your crochet needle? Definitely one of the biggest goals is therapy—finding something to do to help you relax, to help you destress, to help you get through the day. I am mainly a stay-at-home mom. I home-school my three kids all under 12 years old, and it gets to be a lot. One of the things that helps me destress is crocheting. It’s something that I can definitely pass on to other people, too.
How did the Plastic Earth Project begin? It’s always been something that I’ve wanted to do. I think I just never had the time to actually go out and start it. It was just something that I wanted to give back to the community. The very first sculpture that I made and actually submitted was for [Sustainable Nevada, formerly] Nevada Recycles. I crocheted a big mandala piece and won third place. That sparked something inside me. So I started drawing up this project. And I was like, it can’t just be me, I can’t do this myself. I can reach outto the community and have them be a part of this project. I decided to go for it and apply for the [Nevada Arts Council] grant.
What’s next for the project? Closer to the end of May, I’m going to have more exclusive workshops for people who already know how to crochet, so they can help me crochet the pieces that are going to be put together and installed as a larger final piece. In June, I’ll have a reception for the final piece. Everyone’s welcome.
What are your views and priorities when it comes to conservation and the environment? Ever since I had children, I’ve educated myself a lot more. I had read up on a couple of articles, and they show that plastics don’t really degrade very well. Even if we take it to recycling centers, they don’t go away. So I figured, instead of recycling, why don’t we try upcycling things? It’s the only way that we’re going to stop the whole issue.
What’s your reward? I think it’s more of the process, really. I have a lot of unfinished projects. But the experience of going through the process to your end goal is always the most exciting part. It’s the most rewarding learning as I move along, fail and whatnot.
Follow Ailene Pasco’s Plastic Earth Project on Instagram @plasticearthproject.
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