Though an artist at heart, French’s work goes beyond scratching a creative itch: she wants to test the viability of this material and its capacity to replace polluting non-biodegradable plastics. By creating agar recipes, and melting and moulding vessels and furnishings, she is able to identify limitations; testing the material’s commercial viability and end-of-life opportunities. Her bioplastic designs aren’t made to last forever, but they can certainly live more than one life.    

“Prolonged contact with water or high heat will make [the tablewares] degrade but the beauty is that they are able to be shaped and remoulded,” French explains. “So theoretically, they can be used for as long as people like.” They are also designed to find an ecologically kinder final resting place, able to be composted or recycled from home. If every container, bowl, plate or piece of packaging was as multifarious as these, the bins of the future could be empty.    

While her exhibitions have taken precedence, French also fields a number of custom designs, which recently included “big sheets” of bioplastic. Resembling something from a H.G. Wells novel, she says the practical application for these designs spans many industries: “They’re in development with a number of clients but basically they could be used as internal interior design fit-outs, hanging curtains or exhibition stand components. These sheets make great portable exhibition displays because these spaces are often temporary - so clients can use them, then return them to me and I can melt them down and use them as something else.”