🍃 This artwork isn’t your conventional portrait.

I shared a short video about this fascinating piece of art on my LinkedIn page recently, and it’s worth taking a moment to watch it after you’ve read this newsletter.

At first glance, you see a face. It looks detailed, intentional, and complete, much like any traditional portrait.

But as you look closer, the clothing, cables, and fragments of discarded objects all come into focus.

The artist, Deniz Sağdıç, collects materials that have been forgotten or thrown away and transforms them into highly detailed portraits. 

From a distance, the work feels familiar. Up close, it tells a completely different story.

Each piece within the portrait has had a previous life. 

Each material once served a different purpose.

And yet, when brought together, they create something entirely new.

That is what makes this so interesting.

Nothing here is new. The value was always there.

What has changed is the perspective.

It is easy to label something as waste once it reaches the end of its first use. 

That label shapes how we think about materials, how we design systems, and how we make decisions. 

Products are created, used, and then removed from the system without much further thought.

But work like this invites a different question.

What else could this become?

In art, that question creates something visually powerful. 

In business, it can unlock entirely new opportunities. 

Materials that are discarded, by-products that are overlooked, and processes that produce what we often call “waste” can all carry untapped value.

And that is why I find work like this so compelling.

It does not just change what you are looking at.

It changes how you see.

If you’d like to watch the video, click here.

Best,

Jasper