DAAP professor and artist turns grass clippings into biodegradable art

By transforming ordinary grass clippings into artworks made from biodegradable bioplastic, she reveals how creativity can bridge science and sustainability, proving that art isn't separate from everyday life, but woven into it. 

Supermrin heads interdisciplinary practice in the School of Art at UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). She began her artistic journey in India, where she worked as an architect for 10 years before moving to the United States. She earned a Master of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2017.

The past two years have marked an escalation of her practice. She completed a Silver Art Projects Residency in New York, became a 2026 Socrates Sculpture Park grantee and is developing projects nationally and internationally.

Last year, she received the 2025 Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grant, a Collaborative for DAAP Research and Innovation (CDRI) Grant and the Patricia A. Renick Fine Art Fellowship. The funding and resources supported the development of an extensive body of new work that will be featured in her upcoming exhibition, Autoimmune Surrender, at the Weston Art Gallery from Jan. 22 through March 21, 2027. The exhibition will showcase drawings and sculptures alongside material research and community projects developed over the past two years.

Wave Pool, an arts center dedicated to community engagement and connecting artists with opportunities that inspire positive change throughout the Cincinnati area, has been a key resource for Supermrin's current body of work, providing a six-month studio residency for her project. In exchange, she developed public workshops for Camp Washington community members, teaching material science through art. Boris Oicherman, Wave Pool's executive director, said it has been fascinating to watch Supermrin's work unfold since he invited the project into the studio.

"Our mission is to support artists in as many ways as possible, including production of bodies of work and exhibitions," Oicherman said. "It has been very interesting to see this project evolve."

Supermrin developed a new way of creating art by combining materials science with knowledge gained through Genspace, the world's first community biology laboratory, based in New York City. Through dedicated research, with assistance from professional material scientists and academics, she developed a bioplastic using cellulose fiber extracted from grass clippings.

The strenuous process takes the clippings through a cycle of boiling, blending and washing until they become a fibrous cellulose material. Supermrin then uses the material to create art pieces, weaving the bioplastic into sculptures that become robust and durable once dry.

"A big reason why I started to develop this material was the critique of public lands and ecological processes connected to urban land," Supermrin said. "After working with it for a number of years, it's been an incredible, versatile and robust art material in general. I would prefer to work with it than silicone rubber or any other sort of artificial material that is used similarly."

She chose to keep the bioplastic-making process open source rather than patenting it, saying one of the project's biggest goals was to bring people together to share knowledge in hopes of continuing to develop new materials in the future.

Supermrin is the first artist to participate in Wave Pool's new production residency, a pilot program designed to provide artists with dedicated studio and living space, along with 24/7 access to woodworking facilities as they prepare for major exhibitions.

"Supermrin was the pilot of this program we're starting," Oicherman said. "We've learned a lot by working with her about what it means to work with an artist in that way."

With the sharing of knowledge and opportunities like the one Supermrin found through Wave Pool, not only can the community members she teaches become part of the future of art, but so can students in DAAP. She believes her outlook on connection has a place in every field represented in the college.

"I think art includes aspects of each of them, but in a way that allows for continuous experimentation," Supermrin said. "There's a kind of integrity in the profession to be able to voice new visions for the future."

For Supermrin, art doesn't exist in isolation or stay confined to a single discipline. Instead, it connects her to people outside her field. Art opens the door to new perspectives from all aspects of life rather than creating boundaries or limitations.

"Art allows me the flexibility of interdisciplinary learning in the true sense, whereas most other professions sort of pigeonhole you into some field or the other," Supermrin said. "I love doing what I do because I get to engage with all kinds of fields and professions to feel connected to people from all walks of life."

"It has also been incredible to extend my teaching beyond the classroom," Supermrin said. "My incredible current and former students — Sophia Kroto, Shawn Sweeney, Leah Kubitz, Lou Shamblin and Kenna Lewis — have been working together this past year, gathering grass clippings from the neighborhood, understanding the science of bioplastics and learning sophisticated forms of woodworking and metalworking.

"The 1819 Makerspace has been an invaluable resource. We have used CAD, four-axis milling and waterjet cutting to custom-build and design hardware and components from scratch."

Team members crossed into one another's disciplines and guided each other through them, working in sync to complete an undertaking that, Supermrin said, could not have been achieved in parts, only as a whole. 

Featured image at the top of Supermrin working on one of her projects. Photos/provided