Alejandro Durán

About

Alejandro Durán is a Mexican-American multimedia artist born in Mexico City in 1974 who transforms international ocean plastic pollution into environmental installations and photography. His seminal project, 'Washed Up: Transforming a Trashed Landscape,' began as a personal discovery at age 20 when he realized that life is creation and he needed to become part of that creative force. After working as a film director, photographer, and educator, Durán discovered his signature project while spending time in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on Mexico's Caribbean coast, where he was shocked to find plastic debris from 58 nations across six continents polluting this UNESCO World Heritage site. Rather than simply documenting this environmental tragedy, Durán began arranging the collected international debris into color-based, site-specific installations that mimic natural patterns like waves, algae, roots, and fruit—highlighting how plastics have infiltrated even the most protected ecosystems. His work examines the fraught intersections of humanity and nature, revealing the pervasive impact of consumer culture on the natural world. Durán holds an MA in Teaching from Tufts University (1999) and an MFA in Poetry from the New School for Social Research (2001). He currently splits his time between Brooklyn, New York, and Sian Ka'an, Mexico, where he continues to gather trash for his ongoing project. As an educator, Durán has taught photography and video at The Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography. His media production company, Luma Projects, has worked with clients including MoMA, Microsoft, UNICEF, and the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. His work has been featured in National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, and The Huffington Post, and appears in books including 'Art & Ecology Now,' 'Greta Thunberg's The Climate Book,' and the forthcoming 'The History of Art: A Global View' by Thames & Hudson.

Environmental art; transforms ocean plastic pollution into aesthetic yet unsettling installations that explore the intersections of humanity and nature, drawing inspiration from artists like Andy Goldsworthy and Robert Smithson