Beyond Waste – JUNELE

For Beyond Waste, JUNELE brings 100kg of fashion waste to The Gannochy Project Space, transforming the industry’s excess into bold art that challenges how we define waste.

Beyond Waste, the first solo exhibition by Junele, presents a bold exploration of transformation and renewal through the lens of fashion industry waste. Bringing over 100 kg of discarded textile remnants to The Gannochy Project Space, Sandra Junele challenges us to reconsider what we define as “waste” and invites deeper reflection on consumption, sustainability, and creative possibility.

Using a unique sustainable technique she developed herself, Sandra transforms natural fibre fashion waste blended with an organic, plant-based glue into textured, fibreboard-like sheets. These are then shaped into striking, tactile artworks, statement wall pieces and décor, that redefine what we consider waste.

Before we wear our garments, piles of unseen waste are produced during manufacturing. My practice begins with collecting this fashion waste, often overlooked and undervalued. Through my work, I seek to uncover the hidden potential within these materials and give them new life as bold, textural artworks that stand out sustainably.

Combining my background in Interior and Textile Design, I developed a method that blends natural fibre waste with a plant-based glue I prepare myself. This process results in fibreboard-like sheets that I transform into unique pieces.

Recycling and reusing have been part of my life since childhood. Growing up in a family of makers in Latvia, I was inspired by my grandfather’s skill in transforming found wood into beautiful furniture.

Through Beyond Waste, I hope to spark conversations that extend beyond aesthetics… Conversations about responsibility, creativity, and the choices we make every day that shape the future of our planet.

Sandra Junele is an artist and maker dedicated to transforming fashion waste—what others see as discarded remnants—into bold, sustainable artworks. Born into a family of makers in Latvia, Sandra was inspired from a young age by watching her grandfather remake found wood into furniture. Making has been part of her life for as long as she can remember.

Sandra studied Interior Design at the Soules School of Art and Design before earning her degree in Textile Design from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Scotland, the country she now calls home. Drawing on decades of making experience and combining her expertise in both disciplines, she developed a unique technique to create a new material by blending natural fibre fashion waste with an organic, plant-based glue she prepares herself. This process transforms discarded textile remnants into textured, fibreboard-like sheets, which she then uses to craft one-of-a-kind statement wall art, business signage, and décor pieces.

Sandra’s work has been showcased in notable exhibitions including Forgotten Fleece Tales (2025–current), When the Canons are Silent at the Mark Rothko Museum, Daugavpils (March 2024), and the Kunstgewerbe Museum Berlin during Berlin Design Week (May 2023), just to name a few.

Her awards and recognitions include the New Designers Hallmark Connection Award (June 2022), Fife Contemporary New Maker Award (June 2022), The Tailor Incorporation of Dundee Award for Innovation in Style, Cut and Structure (June 2022), and the Award for Innovation in Fashion & Textiles by UNESCO City of Design (November 2023).

In 2024, Sandra was a finalist for the Global Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Climate and was commissioned by Camira for Clerkenwell Design Week (May 2023).