Leeroy New shares his perspective on the artist&rsquo;s role in environmental work.

PHOTOGRAPHY Koji Arboleda
STYLING AND CREATIVE DIRECTION Paolo Chua

Leeroy New has been making art all his life, but the kind of work that he is now widely known for around the world, interestingly, was built on materials that he stumbled upon on his journey as an artist.
New grew up with a provincial life down south, by the shores of General Santos City. He still has vivid memories of riding his bike to school, his love for science fiction and drawing monsters on paper and the coconut trees in his backyard which he loved to climb. In his religiously conservative household, he would also hear about the aswang and other mythical beings from his grandmother who hailed from Siquijor. Throughout his formal art education in high school and college, he remained surrounded by nature as both inspiration and material for making art, which deepened his appreciation for the environment over time.
During a month-long residency in Bendigo, Australia, in 2009, he visited tip shops (recycling facilities) where he found piles of flexible irrigation hoses that he could use as art material on a tight budget. He never originally sought out to be an artist for environmentally-conscious art, but that experiment eventually turned into his &ldquo;Balete&rdquo; series, inspired by the sinewy roots and trunk formations of the tree.

Today, the &ldquo;Balete&rdquo; series has expanded into other immersive, towering structures of public art. From afar, they are neon alien-like spaces that look as if they&rsquo;re lifted from the sci-fi movies New used to watch as a kid. But up close, people can walk inside and see the water containers, zip ties and bamboo that comprise the whole sculpture.
His vivid imagination and uniquely Filipino visual style find a purposeful vessel with the plastic byproducts that have become overabundant today. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m kind of adept at making things [with my hands], so I thought, why not channel this energy into something that will also be a model for solving certain concerns about our environment or our plastic waste problem?&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t too much of a stretch. It was really just realigning within oneself of one&rsquo;s intentions.&rdquo;
The beauty of art at the scale he creates is how accessible it is to countless others. Now, when others step into the sci-fi structures of his imagination, he hopes that it inspires something inside of them too. Much like him, he hopes that other artists can stumble into work that aligns with their skill and is good for the earth.

MAKE-UP Luis Bu&ntilde;ag
HAIR Cloud Olid
LIGHTING DIRECTOR Joey Alvero

Dreaming of Better Futures: Leeroy New

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Dreaming of Better Futures: Leeroy New

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