“I make art from cigarettes that I pick up from beaches, parking lots, or anywhere people are. Cigarettes are a free medium that never runs out. It’s shocking to see this art, but there is so much proof of humanity in each piece. Every filter was smoked by a different person with their own story. Each cigarette is also litter. I’m picking up what I can, saving them from hitting the waterways. 

I was an artist and videographer and did okay selling art on canvas. But there was no message; the canvases just felt like decoration. In 2019, I made a resolution for my art to mean something more. My family moved from Birmingham to Gulf Shores when I was 12. I’m passionate about keeping this place clean and not taking it for granted.

I lived a block from the beach and started picking up trash and plastic. I color-coded everything and had a perfect rainbow of colors. I layered pieces next to each other like a puzzle, and they grew into two and three-dimensional sculptures. The cigarette series became a way to push myself in a new direction with a new medium. 

The studio supplies are easy to get–I just walk to the Walmart parking lot a few feet from my studio. It’s a gold mine for tossed cigarettes. Sometimes I count as I go; I get to 100 and start losing count. People want to know what I’m doing or ask what’s in my bag, expecting shells or something cool. I show ’em the cigarette filters. Sometimes they get grossed out or think less of me. It can be degrading. It’s also meditative and a chance to reflect on these materials going to a greater good.

People say: ‘It’s hard to believe you can find all these’ or ‘No one smokes anymore.’ Dude, if anything, they are smoking more. Maybe not as many young people smoke cigarettes, but I also find plenty of vapes. It’s frustrating how fast these materials replenish; cigarette filters don’t decompose and disappear. I’ve learned to bite my tongue and just observe.

The filters become stinky piles in my studio. I run scissors through each one, cutting the filter in half and tearing off the paper. I recycle the plastic filters from inside the cigarette. 

Making art from cigarette papers is an experiment–there’s no instruction book. This is also a two-color medium: brown and white. It’s a simplified, highly contrasted image. Easily readable from far away. There’s not much fine detail with cigarette filters. Some pieces have 4,000-5,000 filters. 

My first piece was a mandala, creating the symbol of life from a symbol of death. But the subject matter doesn’t have to be deep because the medium is the message. I make things I enjoy: scorpions, spiderwebs, skulls. Often in the style of traditional tattoos. A recent one is the statue of David, representing more of humanity. No matter the image, I hope the medium hits people in the gut. 

The name of my latest cigarette series is ‘Invasive Species’. I want the viewer to walk away thinking: ‘I’m the problem. Humans are the invasive species.’ There is joy in opening people’s eyes to ideas they might not think about themselves. This series has been a part of several local festivals; watching the community that raised me appreciate my art means a lot. 

Raising consciousness and creating frustration is the job of art. But my art is a small drop in the bucket. Maybe when word gets out there’s a cigarette problem in Gulf Shores, someone will say, ‘I’ve heard about this. One artist is trying to pick up all of them’.”

J.D. Swiger

(J.D.’s studio is Swiger Studio)