Photo by Ben Slowey
Jess Poisl - rubbishREMADE
Jess Poisl and her MKE Riverkeeper Boat Parade sculpture
Trash lying on the side of the road still has plenty of utility and potential. Repurposing it not only gives things new life but also provides a medium for environmentally minded creativity, piecing discarded materials together in a viable, visually interesting way. With rubbishREMADE, located in the Wheelhouse (3373 N. Holton St.), Jess Poisl leads a creative reuse collective out of Harambee that makes art and functional items out of upcycled materials.
“There’s an abundance of all these materials that are free,” Poisl affirms. “Instead of letting them just go to the landfill, I want to work with them. We can do so much better with the stuff that we have.”
Trash to Stash
Photo by Ben Slowey
Fused plastic sheets - rubbishREMADE
Fused plastic sheets at rubbishREMADE
When working with repurposed materials, Poisl takes a collage approach, typically sewing them or using a heat press to fuse them. She specializes in crocheting plarn (plastic yarn), which has been her means of making functional items like “trash to stash” jars, baskets and koozies. She has also made wallets from coffee bags and fused plastic sheets.
“All of it is pretty simple, but everything I do is time-consuming,” Poisl remarks. “I got into crochet because I was riding the train all the time. Crochet is very portable - just bring a skein of yarn with you and make a thing - and I like the immediacy of that.”
Another of Poisl’s creations is the FauxNest Decoy, designed to deter wasps. “Charlie Koenen commissioned me, and I sold them to him wholesale,” she explains. “I have enough supplies and bags to make like 20 more.”
Upcycled Crafting
Fellow artists Sara Schoneman, Nicholas Hartman, Amelia Strahan and Cathy Blanski have also joined rubbishREMADE over the years, crafting upcycled items like totes, earrings, scrunchies and fabric bowls.
Poisl notably collaborated with Lauren Zens Leitner on a large sculpture for the 2023 Milwaukee Riverkeeper Boat Parade. It was built by stitching multicolored plastic sheets together, which she then attached to bike tires sourced from Bublr Bikes and local bike shops. According to Poisl, the piece represents interconnectedness. “It made me realize how much I like to collaborate with other people,” Poisl reflects. “It was so fun to work with Lauren.”
Poisl comes from a family that values hands-on personal projects, tinkering and giving old objects new use. This instilled in her a creative spirit from a young age. “My grandpa was always making shit in the garage, and he saved a lot of stuff,” she recalls. “I hang onto things because I might be able to use them for something.”
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Handmade Gifts
Shortly after graduating from UW-Oshkosh with a Graphic Design degree in 2006, Poisl came up with the idea for rubbishREMADE when she began upcycling materials to make handmade gifts for people. “I was learning about plastic waste, and I got all of that stuck in my head,” she remembers.
Poisl launched an Etsy store with her creations, doing a few vendor markets as well. Although she ended up putting rubbishREMADE on the back burner for a few years, Poisl ultimately resumed it in 2021 with a creative reuse collective in mind, which has been based in Wheelhouse since. “My idea was to connect with other makers interested in reusing materials,” she says. “I can’t do a creative reuse center by myself. That’s a community effort.”
In addition to upcycled goods, Poisl offers mending and small alteration services for $35 an hour. Her other focus at the moment is “Mending Mondays,” always the second Monday of every month from 3 to 8 p.m., where folks can come either repair garments themselves or enlist Poisl to do it for a sliding scale price.
Mending in Community
“You can bring your thing to repair if you know what you’re doing, like you’re mending in community,” Poisl mentions about Mending Mondays. “If you do need help, I will help you fix it. People are interested in mending. I think there is this growing awareness of fast fashion and people wanting to be more sustainable. That’s been really cool that people are valuing it as a service.”
Although she had previously vended rubbishREMADE extensively at community events, Poisl now mostly does custom commissions. A current goal of hers is to make and sell more of the FauxNest Decoys. Contact Poisl at rubbishremade@gmail.com for more information.
“We can all help each other…that’s literally what we’re meant to do as human beings,” Poisl concludes. “That’s my big motivating thing in this … we have all this stuff, how can we use it? That’s what it is. We have to take care of each other.”
