Hoboken Trash: The Works of Jeremy Roche

The Hoboken Historical Museum is proud to present “Hoboken Trash: The Works of Jeremy Roche” in the Upper Gallery. 

Born and raised in Commack, Long Island, Jeremy Roche is an abstract artist who repurposes trash into art. While trained as a mechanical engineer at Stevens Institute of Technology, Jeremy looked beyond the sciences to carve out his creative journey. 

A key moment in his development was when Jeremy joined the Poetry Club on campus at Stevens. In the midst of his engineering coursework, he delved into creative writing and performing with other like-minded creatives. At the same time, he enrolled in the Drawing II course as a free elective in his final year as a student. The class, which focused on figure drawing, engaged Jeremy in such a meaningful way that he spent 30 hours on a single assignment. He had found his muse. 

Upon graduating from Stevens, Jeremy entered the professional world of mechanical engineering. However, he remained dedicated to his artistic practice. Even after a long day’s work, he experimented with his art. His style became more abstract, evolving from figure drawing to a combination of sketching and journaling.

At the start of the COVID pandemic, Jeremy was unexpectedly laid off from his engineering job. With newfound time on his hands, Jeremy began to collage. He found this art form freeing and accessible. For his materials, he started to grab books, cardboard boxes, old frames, and any random materials off the streets of Hoboken – items discarded as trash. He also began incorporating poetry into his pieces as another layer to his work.

Jeremy’s work encourages the viewers to reflect candidly about our consumerist habits and impact on the environment. We take lessons from his resourcefulness and how we assign value and potential to objects. 

Jeremy also finds therapeutic value from his creative process and embodies the tenet that one does not need to attend art school in order to be an artist. According to Jeremy, art is for everybody. His vision is to inspire all of us to develop our own creative process, just as he has forged his own.

“Hoboken Trash: The Works of Jeremy Roche” includes 30+ pieces. The majority of the materials are derived from Hoboken’s trash that Jeremy transformed into brilliant pieces of art. 

The Hoboken Historical Museum looks forward to sharing Jeremy’s work with the community. We are inspired by his call for all of us to find the inner artist within and his focus on environmental activism.

Please join us for an online Artist Talk with Jeremy Roche on Thursday, June 13 at 7pm. This interview will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook @hobokenmuseum.

All are invited to join the opening reception for “Hoboken Trash: The Works of Jeremy Roche” on Sunday, June 16, 2024 from 2pm-5pm at the Hoboken Historical Museum, located at 1301 Hudson Street.

A special thank you to the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs/Tourism Development for supporting this exhibit.