RIP-OFF: THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILTY
When 2025 started, I was starting out in a new creative art field that I never saw myself pursuing. I like to believe that my education along with my moral compass played a huge role in pursuing environmental advocacy photography art (that’s what I like to call this). So, on a whim I applied for Studio Apparatus’ 2025 residency program to test the waters and as if the Universe knew that I was scared of this new endeavor, I got chosen! I was 1 out of 4 creatives given 10 hours of studio time to create art in Studio Apparatus and I took this opportunity to curate this project.
This project took me 4 months to plan, 10 hours of studio/shooting time spanning over 2 weeks, and 24/7 stress about how I was going to finish this project and the spring semester strong. However in the blink of an eye, I finished this project and am always left speechless about the effort, passion, and energy that my team and I put into making this project come to life.
RIP-OFF: THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY got its name from my observation of how uneducated, unaware, and uncaring humans are about the way that we are impacting Earth. I wanted this project to educate and bring awareness to viewers about the negative impacts that human consumerism has on biodiversity, climate, waterways, animals/insects, and ultimately, human life. Each curated look discusses these consequences with the last look providing insight on how co-existence with nature is possible through education, accountability, and political/human action:
Idiocracy: Censorship of science; Silencing of Indigenous voices, practices, and rights
Asphyxiation: Plastic usage and pollution
Gluttony: Impacts of food waste
Vortex: The dangers of fast fashion
Harmony: Finding co-existence and balance with nature
I have poured my whole heart and soul into designing, curating, and researching to bring this project to life. This is my form of advocating and screaming at the world that it’s not too late or hopeless to do something to save our one home. I hope that by looking at these images and educating oneself, you feel compelled or moved to do something to save Mother Nature.
A huge thank you to Studio Apparatus for sharing their space with me and my team to create art that means the world to me. Thank you to all the models (Kris, Hunter, Talee, Purpose, and Luna) who worked with my awkward self, in believing my vision, and for your encouragement. Thank you to my team for putting up with me, helping me put together all the sets, and for being the best hype squad a little shy Asian girlie can ask for.
Most importantly, thank you to Mother Nature for being the biggest inspiration in making this project possible. Your resilience, kindness, and grace knows no bounds and I am grateful to be able to bask in your beauty.
RIP-OFF: THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY, PT. V: Harmony
“To build healthier relationships between people and nature, human societies need to adopt a systems thinking approach. This approach looks at the bigger picture, considering the ecological, cultural, political and social aspects of technology in an integrated manner. It ensures that innovation is guided by principles of sustainability and equity” (Vasseur, Hayden, & Jones, 2024).
Model: Luna
RIP-OFF: THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY, PT. II: Asphyxiation
“Plastic pollution is an urgent global crisis. Even if you don’t see discarded plastic in your community, tiny pieces of plastic have been found everywhere around the world, from the highest mountain peaks to the deepest ocean trenches” (PlasticPollutionCoalition, 2025).
Model: Hunter
RIP-OFF: THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY, PT. III: Gluttony
“Food waste is food that is intended for human consumption that is wasted and lost, and refers not only to food that consumers don’t finish at restaurants and are thrown out at home, but also raw materials and produce that are lost in the farming stage, harvesting processes, during transportation, and storage. Food waste can occur anywhere throughout the entire supply chain” (Lai, 2021).
Model: Talee
RIP-OFF: THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY, PT. I: Idiocracy
“Thousands of years of Indigenous knowledge on solutions for mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis are not being utilized, simply because they are carried and communicated differently. The voices of Indigenous Peoples have historically been marginalized and ignored when it comes to policy-making, despite the United Nations acknowledging the importance of their traditional knowledge and how it is not consistently reflected in existing mitigation efforts. Yet these are the people who are the original stewards of the planet’s biodiversity, lands, and waters” (Home Planet Fund, 2024).
Model: Kris
RIP-OFF: THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY, PT. IV: Vortex
“Fast fashion is widely considered to be low-quality apparel produced rapidly to follow current trends in the industry and sold at rock-bottom prices. Although the monetary cost is low, textile workers and the environment are paying a high price. Fast fashion is cheap because workers are not paid adequately. Clothes are poorly made, widely purchased, rarely worn and quickly thrown away. The goal of fast fashion companies is to encourage people to spend more money on more clothes that they use for a shorter time” (Crumbie, 2024).
Model: Purpose