When you hear the word “sustainability,” it’s not always immediately followed by words like “rockstar,” “glamour,” or “haute couture.” But for me, these words belong in the same sentence. They are, in fact, at the heart of my mission: to make sustainability voguish, to elevate environmental consciousness into something trendsetting, transformative, and wildly magnetic.
Words: Corey Ceccarelli
With a practice rooted in art, fashion, and radical innovation, I am building a universal platform that doesn’t whisper about sustainability, it sings about it, it shouts proudly with rigorous intent. Think high-end fashion meets repurposed materials. Think sculptural installations that hold the gravity of galaxies. Think mannequins reborn as artistic oracles for our age. My mission is to turn ecological urgency into irresistible inspiration.
Nothing is too humble to become iconic, and in my care, discarded items find new purpose and poetry. My mannequin works of art are assembled using discarded materials, pieces once deemed useless, given new life through artistry and purpose. Each mannequin becomes a 3D canvas for meaning, movement, and memory. They speak without speaking. They demand presence.
I don’t just recycle, I resurrect.
There’s something immediate about mannequins. They represent us, our physicality, our vulnerability, our place in the world and cosmos. They are a mirror to our humanity and a portal to our dreams. To work on a 3D structure is to engage with flow, it’s kinetic, alive, responsive, and transformative.
Their impact is multifaceted. When placed in galleries or public spaces, the mannequins confront and captivate. They force the viewer to pause, question, and connect. In photo shoots, they become avatars of emotion, shadows of society, reflections of our collective psyche. Each one holds its own energy, identity, and message, fashioned not just to be seen, but to be felt deeply.
This August, my latest solo exhibition will take over the Link Gallery, situated next to the Jersey Museum and Jersey Heritage. Running from August 2nd – August 31st, the exhibition is titled ŴässerŴater – L’iEau de Vita, a cross-linguistic homage to the precious element that sustains all life: water.
But this is not just a tribute, it’s a warning, a prayer, a movement. A plea to recognize that water is not a commodity; it is a living, breathing entity essential to our survival and spirituality.
This body of work was born from the tension between reverence and ruin. Between sacred knowing and scientific data. It confronts the insidious presence of forever-chemicals, plastics and unsustainable practices, exploring how they have silently leached into every aspect of our lives, even as our culture continues to embrace their widespread use without pause or reflection.
The pieces in ŴässerŴater are visual symphonies that echo the flow of rivers, the fragility of coral, and the rhythm of rain. They channel mythologies from various cultures, connecting the viewer not only to water as a substance but to water as a spirit, a divine thread that binds us across time and space.
Ultimately through all my work, I want to show that environmentalism need not be dull or draped in guilt. It can be exhilarating. It can be beautiful. It can strut down a runway, pose in front of a lens, or whisper from the curvature of a recycled form.
We need to glamorize sustainability, not in a superficial way, but in a celebratory way, making it magnetic, accessible, and inevitable. Fashion can be activism. Art can be advocacy. Beauty can be revolutionary.
My work amalgamates fashion and activism, aesthetics and advocacy, allowing communities to see themselves as part of a global vision, connected not by consumerism, but by care. Every mannequin, every thread, every glint of material is a call to action and a celebration of possibility. It is culture-shifting at its finest.
More than anything, my practice is about unification. To create and not take away, that is the guiding principle. We must create works of art that add to the ecosystem, not strip it bare. We must restore, renew, and rejoice alongside nature and our fellow species, not dominate them.
I believe in using art not just to beautify, but to connect. To reclaim our relationship with the environment. To celebrate the wondrous brilliance of biodiversity and restore our deep-rooted connection with the living world.
The happiest people on Earth do not have the most; they have the most meaning. They have community, nature, animals, freedom, sacred devotion, creative invocation. That’s what I want my art to reflect, a visual language of belonging.
Creation, for me, is never static. Each piece manifests over time, often evolving during the actual process. There’s a spontaneity to it. A sense of being guided by something beyond the conscious mind. I don’t always know what the final form will be, and that’s the magic. It’s a dance between structure and surrender, between craftsmanship and mystery.
That flexibility, the ability to innovate, adapt, and have fun, is part of what makes this work so relevant in today’s uncertain times. It’s not just about preserving the planet; it’s about radically reimagining our place within it. As artists. As visionaries. As stewards. As kin.
As part of my sustainable kelp & seaweed works, I am deeply grateful for my collaboration with Ben and Naomi of Seaweed Food Co. & Guernsey Seaweed. Their mastery in creating sustainable materials from kelp and seaweed has been instrumental in bringing my designs and creations to life. Their contributions are sustainable triumphs, symbols of what forward-thinking, ecologically intelligent partnerships can achieve. Their camaraderie and dedication to environmental stewardship are both humbling and inspiring. I am honored to work alongside such kindred spirits who redefine what “material success” truly means.
For me, this journey is just beginning. My platform will continue to grow, rooted in my desire to voice radically meaningful messages across the globe. My aim? To spread positive and vibrant energy at a constant. To create communities of consciousness. To help us remember what truly matters.
We’ve been indoctrinated to believe that nature exists to be conquered, that her worth lies in what can be extracted, traded, or consumed. But this is not living; it is a slow, silent extinction of our own humanity. I refuse a life reduced to survival. I choose to live, fully, fiercely, and in reverence. And I want us all to live. To truly live, we must unlearn domination and rediscover kinship. We must reimagine how we create, not as exploiters, but as stewards. How we relate, not through control, but through communion. And how we celebrate, not through consumption, but through awe. This Earth is not a commodity. It is our origin, our mirror, and our only home.
My work doesn’t just challenge the status quo, it remakes it. And in a time where the Earth is crying out for change, my art is an anthem. One of hope, resilience, courage, and radiant beauty. We are not here to conquer the Earth, nor to measure its soul in gold and gain. We are here to remember, to create alongside its breath, to resurrect wonder from what was cast aside, and to weave the ancient rhythm of nature into our modern hands. Sustainability is not survival; it is the poetry of life itself, vibrant, visionary, and endlessly becoming.
ŴässerŴater – L’iEau de Vita
August 2–31, 2025
Saturday August 2nd – 1pm-4pm.
Link Gallery, Jersey Museum
@coreyceccarelli
