Valerie Pitzen

Valerie was born and raised in the outskirts of Toledo. She is a versatile designer who would work well in any team environment, big or small. She has done some freelance including wedding invitations, logos and other small business branding. Along with design, in the past few years she has done photography gigs here and there. She focuses her efforts in using design in a sustainable way, as well as bringing awareness to the importance of sustainability. Valerie is also well versed in printmaking, specifically screenprinting, but the stay at home order has given her the ability to explore relief printing a bit more. Design is engrained into every creative medium she uses, and she is happy to have acquired the skills to do so at BGSU.

Death by Textiles // Senior Thesis

67 graphic screenprinted T-shirts, wooden crate, promotional stickers

Throwing away clothing and other textiles combined with increases in production releases a multitude of toxins such as methane into our environment. It is a contributor to climate change, which in turn has an effect on ecosystems and endangered species.

While conducting research on textile waste I coincidentally began a position at an apparel/screenprint company. Soon after, feelings of guilt and discouragement arose from observing and participating in wasteful practices of discarded materials from printing mistakes. How could this waste be transformed from wasted fabrics into something useable? This work presents a hope for new practice of reimagining “ruined” garments into reusable items that would otherwise be used as rags and thrown into the trash. The concept of this work allows for new products through the use of an alternate design integrating mistakes. The plants and animal species that are depicted on the shirts represent endangered species, due to climate change. These new images were placed over top mistakes on the original shirt. One would never know…

These shirts are for sale, and profits will go to Fashion Revolution, an organization aimed at supporting sustainable fashion practices.

To view more about the work and to view purchasing options feel free to visit deathbytextiles.com