Young Artistic Excellence Award Winner

Ryan Catholic College

Debris Couture 2025

Recycled materials
185 x 92 (various lengths)

About the Work

The work encompasses a runway of models emerging out of Townsville’s ocean in wearable art, fashioned from recyclable products and waste, and heading straight up the foreshore of The Strand. This highlights the amount of rubbish found in the ocean that could be disposed of properly or repurposed into beautiful artwork. At the same time, other models walk towards the ocean with bulk amounts of trash, symbolising the amount of pollution we put into our ocean. The models walking out are fashioned in more stylish designs of wearable art, symbolising alternative uses of the rubbish. While trash can be turned into treasure, society needs to acknowledge and protect the treasure that is our land and sea by disposing of these items in the correct fashion.

About the Artist

Ryan Catholic College is Townsville’s largest Catholic College, with almost 2,000 students and 255 staff. The school’s size means students are offered a great depth in academic, sporting and extra-curricular pursuits. The school maintains a special caring culture by supporting individual students and their families and offering students the broadest range of academic, sporting and pastoral care available. Environmental sustainability is an integral part of our Catholic faith, curriculum and a strategic priority. The Diocese of Townsville is blessed with diverse landscapes and seascapes. Ryan Catholic College recognises care for creation is a sacred duty each person is responsible for. Ryan Catholic College strives to assist our communities to grow in wonder and appreciation of God’s creation, and together, journey toward living more sustainably and socially just.