"Cooking colours from food waste and bacteria to get compostable and wearable shades"

This is a PhD research-creation on sustainable ways of developing dyes for textiles. Vanessa’s interest in the molecular aspect of color began after watching several documentaries denouncing the environmental toxicity of fashion and has influenced her practice as a designer. Her research consists in developing a textile eco-literacy, which involves an ecological knowledge of the materials we use and a better understanding of their environmental impact. Inspired by these two concepts: living production methods and waste as a resource, she develops dyes from bacteria that feed on food waste. Bacteria are a renewable resource, found in soil or water, that allow the production of pigments, at room temperature and within 48 hours. Her project, entitled “Cooking colours from food waste and bacteria to get compostable and wearable shades”, proposes a series of workshops and the creation of a long-term open-source archive, as an educational resource to share knowledge about sustainable textile dyeing techniques with the Concordia community.

Themes: Waste; Energy, Resources & Technology

Vanessa Mardirossian

PhD, Independent, Faculty of Fine Arts