The Crossover Project

This unique artwork of wearable art is part of The Crossover Project collection, made from waste and surplus materials.

About the artwork
It is said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. To guide us in our responsible materials journey Emmanuel Unaji taps into the discarded off-cuts from garment manufacturing. Exploring supply chain transparency in an attempt to raise awareness and identify plausible risk-solution initiatives to landfill disposal and its impact on the environment.

Taking inspiration in the fictional investigatory character of The Pink Panther, Emmanuel’s installation aims to uncover the environmental exchanges between humankind and the planet. The Pink Panther reference is an ode to the classic American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The name is derived from a pink diamond that has enormous size and value. The diamond is called the "Pink Panther" because the flaw at its centre, when viewed closely, is said to resemble a leaping pink panther.

By consciously making a work of art that can be worn, Emmanuel encourages the viewer to channel The Pink Panther and empowers them to take that step and question the supply chain of a piece of clothing. Where do our clothes go when we don’t want them anymore?

Using the fashion industry as a literal canvas, Emmanuel takes his reflection one step further by reimagining the surface the artwork is created on to become wearable art, deconstructing the traditional conception of what art is. 

In Emmanuel’s vision, trash transforms into treasure by uncovering new applications for waste materials from garment manufacturing. A flaw at the centre of the system becoming a valuable work of art. The Pink Panther.

About the artist
Emmanuel Unaji a British-born Nigerian multidisciplinary artist with a background in Fashion Design and a BA in Fine Art at Kingston School of Art, whose unique portraits combining collage, drawing and painting has gained widespread recognition in the creative industries and been featured in household institutions. Coined ‘new talent to watch’ by several publications, Emmanuel explores the socioeconomic landscape of the creative sector, carving out his own space, at the intersection of fashion, luxury, street and fine art.

About the Crossover Project
For the first time at such a scale, The Crossover Project brings together the worlds of art, design and fashion in a bid to tackle waste within the creative industries. With 1.6m tonnes of furniture and bulky waste ending in landfill each year in the UK, the project aims to salvage waste from the design and fashion sectors and present it to an exciting roster of talented emerging artists represented by avant-garde gallery Bleur to create unique works of art using art as a force for change to raise awareness around the need for circularity of materials to tackle waste. The collection of works will be exhibited in an immersive exhibition at The Royal Exchange in London from 23rd June until 8th July. Partner brands include Diesel, Ron Dorff, Georg Jensen, Elle Decoration and Edward Bulmer and others. 

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www.bleurart.com
www.crossoverprojectofficial.com