Jessie French

What will replace plastic?

Plastics are engines of mass production and mass disposability. Today, they are among the most pervasive pollutants on Earth, vastly overshooting their intended lifespans. Plastic endures – dispersed into oceans, soils, atmospheres and bodies. The vast majority of plastics are made of petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels. Switching to a closed loop system of sustainability, the materials presented here for you to hold are non-petrochemical plastics derived from algae.

Touch off-cuts of the ethereal panels created for this exhibition by artist Jessie French. This material flows with traces of its history, creating marble-like patterns without the environmental cost of resource extraction. After the exhibition, this material will be melted and transformed with hot water and charcoal into a leather-like textile. Come back in 2027 to see it sensorially reimagined in a future exhibition.

How might we reimagine extractive systems?

BIOGRAPHY

Jessie French (AUS) is an artist working at the intersection of materials science and contemporary craft practice, based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her work investigates the deep biological origins of extracted materials and is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria and the Anchorage Museum. She was the inaugural Designer-in-Residence at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in 2024 and is a 2023 George Alexander Foundation Fellow. The technical research underpinning her practice is developed through Other Matter, the studio she founded in 2020.

Other Matter (AUS)is a design studio interested in materials, founded by Jessie French in 2020 in Naarm/Melbourne. The studio develops non-petrochemical polymers for interior architecture, surfaces, retail, events, and exhibitions, and holds a granted Australian patent on its bioplastic technology. In 2024 the studio's research was awarded the Most Promising Advancement in Achieving the Ending Plastic Waste Mission Goal by Australia's federal science agency, CSIRO.

Photography credit: Phoebe Powell