Maria Feuereisen began creating sets from upcycled garbage out of necessity while studying visual arts in Chile, using cardboard stored in her car as both home and art supply. Her fascination with discarded materials grew into a mission: to awaken society to the beauty and value of what is often thrown away. She expanded her work to include plastics, bags, and aluminum, collaborating with communities—especially children—to collect and transform waste into urban landscapes and mythological creatures.

After moving to New York to pursue an MFA in set design at NYU Tisch, Maria faced new challenges: limited space, resources, and time. Her first project—a recycled plastic bag set—had to be made entirely by hand, reigniting the labor-intensive, unpredictable nature of working with trash. Though her transition from Chile to New York came with constraints on space and budget, the pandemic gifted her something crucial: time.

Forming a close bond with neighborhood kids during lockdown, Maria rediscovered playful, process-driven storytelling through cardboard puppet theater inspired by the Latin Lambe Lambe tradition. The experience reminded her of the freedom in crafting beauty from the discarded and reaffirmed her belief that storytelling and trash can together spark transformation.

Now, as a set designer and lifelong garbage-creator, Maria urges us to shift our relationship with materials—from disposable to reverent—and to see waste as a source of endless creative potential.