Lay Peng

An artist's book made from plastic fragments compacted by heat pressing, with transfers of toner-printed images. Across the pages the blurred face of Lay Peng Pua appears: a chemist and environmental activist from Jenjarom, Selangor, Malaysia, who defends her community against imports of "treated" plastic waste processed in illegal recycling plants that pollute the air and water around them.

The piece contains a fragment of Lay's testimony, translated from a 2021 interview*: "I saw how my community suffered from plastic pollution; many people became seriously ill because of the polluted air and water. I ask myself how this environmental injustice began and how those responsible have managed to stay hidden. We urgently need to change how we see plastic, to rethink every purchase and every habit. Human health depends on a healthy environment, on clean air and water. Today I see a lot of willingness to heal and protect, and in that movement I find hope."

Through the disintegrating image, the piece questions the idea of humanity as a uniform threat to nature and points to a system that shields those responsible and tries to erase those who defend the environment.

*Climate Queens, "S2 Ep5: Summer Series with Front Line Defenders: The Journey of Our Plastic Waste with Lay Peng Pua," YouTube video, October 31, 2021, youtu.be/lY0oLgo3zFw.