Jesler Muntendam

Jesler Muntendam currently living and working in the Netherlands, graduated in 2019
with the "Future Rocks" project at the Willem de Kooning academy.

Walking through the streets of Rotterdam my attention is caught by a brightly colored shimmer. As I get closer, to understand where this glimpse comes from, I see the cause of all this; a brightly colored pink candy box.

Plastic waste is a future rock

A reason for starting my graduation project Future Rocks was a news article about
a new rock (plastiglomerate) found on Camilo Beach, Hawaii. Plastic waste has found surprising ways to spread in the sediment of the earth, many geologists have even started to recognize it as part of the sediment itself.

For example, plastic rocks have already been found in Hawaii. This caused me to look differently at the plastic waste on the street. The brightly colored packaging has become shreds of our culture, all of these packaging mixed together form a kind of memory device of this time. Just like rocks for geologists and in this way know more about earlier eras.

Creating contemporary gems

I see plastic waste on the street as a raw material. That way the plastic waste on the street is the source for my work. By melting, sanding and polishing it, I create a new type stone that looks like a gem. I make jewelry from these contemporary gems.

Jesler Muntendam young Dutch desinger

We show both young and established designers and try to present them on the same level as fine art. We like to combine fine art, design, textile art and jewelry and let them enrich each other.