For Celine Tan and Oscar Lee, the visionary minds behind Co2_karbondioksida, creating art isn&rsquo;t just about aesthetics &mdash; it&rsquo;s about leaving a legacy that respects the planet.

It takes a four-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur to reach the old town of Muar, and somehow, all roads lead to a quiet stretch of Jalan Penambang, where one house stands apart. Clad in faded orange with streaks of washed-out blue, its <a href="https://www.hommesmalaysia.com/arts-culture-and-lifestyle/step-in-the-wonders-of-intercontinental-phu-quoc-long-beach-resort">white wooden windows</a> and a wide tatami-curtained pane invite you inside. This is where Co2_karbondioksida, the artistic duo of Celine Tan and Oscar Lee, transforms discarded materials into sculptures that aren&rsquo;t just visually striking but emotionally stirring. Look long enough, and a cocktail of guilt, reflection and awe might settle in &mdash; because their work doesn&rsquo;t just showcase beauty; it holds up a mirror to what we&rsquo;ve done to the planet. Their art is deliberate yet unforced, impactful yet never preachy. That&rsquo;s precisely the point. &ldquo;Some of our pieces might feel like a slap in the face, but we don&rsquo;t want to hit too hard &mdash; just enough to make you think,&rdquo; says Celine. Oscar nods in agreement. &ldquo;Art should have a purpose. If it sparks a conversation or makes someone reconsider their choices, then I&rsquo;d say we&rsquo;ve done our job.&rdquo; For Co2_karbondioksida, it&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.hommesmalaysia.com/personalities/interview-how-darren-evonne-and-chloe-freshened-up-the-local-fashion-scene">not about activism but expression</a>. And sometimes, the most powerful messages don&rsquo;t need to be shouted.

Co2_karbondioksida&rsquo;s first foray into sculpture was a bold one: a human-sized model of Marvel&rsquo;s Venom, built entirely from discarded plastic containers. The alien antihero, infamous for a parasitic bond with its host, felt like the perfect metaphor for humanity&rsquo;s toxic relationship with plastic &mdash; an addiction that&rsquo;s poisoning not just us but the planet itself. Their next piece, To Dream of Blue Skies, took a more hopeful turn. As new parents, Oscar and Celine channelled their anxieties (and aspirations) into an artwork that imagines a future with clean air for their daughter. The installation? A dream cloud floating above a baby&rsquo;s crib, constructed from 2,000 photos of blue skies printed on recycled paper sourced from a primary school. The images were crowd-sourced from around the world, part of Greenpeace&rsquo;s The Air We Share campaign &mdash; a quiet yet powerful reminder that the fight for breathable air is a global one.

But it&rsquo;s their latest piece that hits closest to home. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_QCcV3JWWC/">Nasi Lemak | #junkfoodseries</a> is a supersized sculpture of Malaysia&rsquo;s beloved national dish, crafted entirely from plastic waste &mdash; some collected personally, some plucked straight from Muar&rsquo;s streets. &ldquo;It speaks of how microplastics have woven themselves into our lives &mdash; from the air we breathe to the food we eat, the furniture we sit on,&rdquo; says Oscar. &ldquo;Nasi lemak is something Malaysians consume every day, and now, so are microplastics &mdash; inside and out.&rdquo; Both Oscar and Celine come from an architectural background, but the straight lines and rigid frameworks of the profession never quite fit. For Oscar, the realisation hit early. &ldquo;Architecture just didn&rsquo;t allow us to be as experimental as we wanted. Too many restrictions, too many compromises,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;At some point, it felt like we were just ticking boxes &mdash; pleasing clients, meeting deadlines, chasing paychecks. With art, there&rsquo;s freedom. There&rsquo;s pride. There&rsquo;s joy. And even with its own set of constraints, the work feels like &lsquo;us&rsquo;.&rdquo;

After graduating, Oscar packed up and returned to his hometown of Muar, Johor, where his journey as an artist began. Celine, meanwhile, spent some time in the architectural industry before joining him &mdash; not just as his creative partner, but eventually as his wife and the mother of their children. Before Co2_karbondioksida took shape, the duo dabbled in everything from running an eco-conscious caf&eacute; to crafting handmade goods from <a href="https://www.hommesmalaysia.com/personalities/earth-day-special-adani-bay-and-emma-of-looop-on-rediscovering-hidden-gems">recycled materials</a>. Their early creative ventures led them to commission mural works, but soon, they found their true calling. Co2_karbondioksida was born in 2017 &mdash; its name is a clever fusion of their initials, with the numeral &ldquo;2&rdquo; representing their partnership. Malay for carbon dioxide, &ldquo;Karbondioksida&rdquo; grounds their work on themes of waste and transformation. Because at its core, that&rsquo;s what Co2_karbondioksida is all about&mdash; turning what&rsquo;s discarded into something that demands to be seen.

Step by step, Co2_karbondioksida has carved out a name for itself in the creative industry, establishing a reputation as one of the leading forces in sustainable and environmental art. Maybe it&rsquo;s their relentless dedication. Maybe it&rsquo;s their unshakable passion. Or perhaps it&rsquo;s their unassuming &ldquo;just do it&rdquo; philosophy that keeps pushing them forward. But if you ask Oscar, the real reason behind their success? Family. &ldquo;My mother has been my biggest supporter since I was a kid,&rdquo; he shares. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t come from money, so I made my own toys by glueing together old newspapers with paste we&rsquo;d mix from tapioca.&rdquo; His architectural studies later sharpened his understanding of sustainability, but it wasn&rsquo;t until he met Celine that everything clicked. From the start, they shared the same vision. &ldquo;Most of our inspiration comes from the way we live,&rdquo; says Celine. &ldquo;It took time to fully understand how we work together, but at the core, we&rsquo;ve always had the same goal.&rdquo; Turns out, some partnerships aren&rsquo;t just built &mdash; they&rsquo;re inevitable.

&ldquo;The inspiration, the story, the message &mdash; that&rsquo;s what endures. Even if the piece itself disappears, the impact should linger.&rdquo; - Oscar Lee

In the early days of Co2_karbondioksida, arguments were practically part of the creative process. Every new project sparked a debate, sometimes heated, always passionate. But Celine and Oscar wouldn&rsquo;t have had it any other way. &ldquo;It gave us the space to understand each other better, to figure out how to balance work and family,&rdquo; Celine admits. Over time, the roles fell into place &mdash; Celine steers the visual and marketing direction, while Oscar handles the technical side, piecing together each sculpture with precision. Every great artist has a signature &mdash; something that makes their work instantly recognisable. For Co2_karbondioksida, it&rsquo;s their impeccable craftsmanship with recycled materials. Their pieces are intricate yet effortless, structured yet organic. Oscar credits his architectural background for their approach. &ldquo;We always ask ourselves: &lsquo;What&rsquo;s the purpose of this piece? What do we want to say? And how do we make sure people &lsquo;get&rsquo; it?&rsquo;&rdquo; he says. These questions guide everything, from material choices to execution.

The result is an art that feels raw yet refined, serious yet playful, modern yet timeless. A balance few can pull off, but Co2_karbondioksida does it with ease. &ldquo;The world is full of beauty &mdash; it&rsquo;s just that people don&rsquo;t always see it,&rdquo; says Oscar. &ldquo;In a way, we&rsquo;re trying to train their eyes.&rdquo; Sustainability and durability don&rsquo;t always go hand in hand. Some materials last forever; others fade with time. But for Celine and Oscar, that impermanence is part of the beauty. Their art isn&rsquo;t meant to last forever &mdash; at least, not physically. &ldquo;For us, the meaning behind the work matters more than how long it stays intact,&rdquo; says Celine. Oscar nods. &ldquo;The inspiration, the story, the message &mdash; that&rsquo;s what endures. Even if the piece itself disappears, the impact should linger.&rdquo;

That doesn&rsquo;t mean Co2_karbondioksida is stuck in its ways. If anything, it embraces change. In a world where unpredictability is the only constant, they see adaptation as essential. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re always open to exploring new materials, as long as they don&rsquo;t harm the environment,&rdquo; says Oscar. &ldquo;We move at our own pace, not chasing trends, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean we&rsquo;re oblivious. We focus on issues where we can actually make a difference in &mdash; where we can push people to reflect, maybe even take action.&rdquo; Because at the end of the day, the real legacy of their work isn&rsquo;t in what you can see &mdash; it&rsquo;s in what stays with you.

CREDITS: Creative Direction, Styling &amp; Words Syazil Abd Rahim Photography MuZu Studio Styling Assistant Amelia Tan All clothing and accessories UNIQLO

Earth Day Special: Celine Tan & Oscar Lee of Co2_karbondioksida lead a bold eco art wave

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