Nike Air Max 90 inspired Sculptures using E-waste
My Nike Air Max 90–Inspired Sculptures pay tribute to a timeless sneaker icon through the lens of sustainability and creative reuse. Built from upcycled e-waste and found materials, these works transform electronic components into sculptural homages to design, culture, and craftsmanship. The series continues my exploration of how sneaker innovation can evolve beyond function—becoming a medium for storytelling, sustainability, and artistic expression.
Explore the inspiration and process behind this piece.
The Nike Air Max 90 has been one of the most studied silhouettes in sneaker history — Tinker Hatfield's 1990 design with its visible Air unit in the heel, its bold colour-blocking, its technical and aesthetic logic that established a template others still follow. Air Max 90 "Distorted" doesn't replicate that form — it distorts it, rebuilding the AM90 silhouette from circuit boards, data cables, wire, leather, computer chips, and clear tubing, transforming the shoe's clean lines into a sculptural reckoning with the electronic materials that now define daily life.
The clear tubing is a particularly deliberate choice — an echo of the transparent Air unit that made the original revolutionary.
Materials: Circuit boards; data cables; wire; leather; computer chips; clear tubing; upcycled components
Dimensions: 8"H × 5.25"W × 11.25"D — Men's 10.0 shoe size
Edition: Limited Edition 1 of 1 — signed with certificate of authenticity
Air Max 90 Distorted
Materials Used: Circuit Boards, Data Cables, Wire, Leather, Computer Chips, Clear Tubing and other upcycled materials.
Dimensions: 8 inches tall, 5 1/4 inches wide and 11 1/4 inches long. Men's 10.0 shoes size
Date Completed: 7-9-2017
Digital Air Max 90 “Copper Penny”
Materials Used: Circuit Boards, Data Cables, Wire, Leather, Computer Chips and other upcycled materials.
Dimensions: 6 3/4 inches tall, 4 1/2 inches wide and 13 inches long. Men's 10.0 shoes size
Base: 15 inches wide, and 9 1/4 deep.
Case:11 inches tall, 17 1/2 inches wide and 12 inches long.
Date Completed: 7-1-2017
Upcycled Air Max 90
Materials Used: Circuit Boards, Data Cables, Rivets, Wire, and other upcycled materials.
Dimensions: 6 3/4 inches tall, 4 1/4 inches wide, and 13 inches long. Men's 10.0 shoe size
Date Completed: 12-23-2016
Air Max 90 CMT
Date Completed: 1-4-2010
