When ordinary people return home from vacations, from a travel to diffente places, it’s quite usual that they return with souvenirs, like a mini Eiffel Tower or a “I Love NY” shirt. What about if of all the different places you had been so far, you collected dirt?! Well, that’s what the designer and artist Marian Bantjes creates art using dirt from around the world.

Designer Marian Bantjes brings home samples of dirt. After travelling through exotic destinations such as Brazil, South Africa, Thailand and the Philippines, Bantjes has to explain to customs officers why her suitcase contains small jars of soil or sand. This year, she used a small part of the collection to create a mandala-like poster for Alliance Graphique International (AGI)

RELATED HISTORY: THESE PHOTOS OF WILD FOXES ENJOYNG THEIR TIME WILL MAKE YOUR DAY

The painstaking process started with a pencil drawing of the geometric pattern and lettering that says “Coexistence”. She then added the soil and sand, using a variety of methods. She was able to pour some from a spout, while others had to be added in an even layer and then moved with a paintbrush.

“The materials vary in size of grains and evenness,” Bantjes told Co.Design. “The smoothest sand from Thailand was the easiest to work with. Other sands were lumpy or sticky with salt.”

“Everyone who has seen this mentions the Tibetan sandpaintings,” Bantjes said on her blog. “I can’t say I had Tibet in mind when I made this. Merely Coexistence.” However, like sand paintings and traditional mandalas, the sand in Bantjes’s striking work was not glued down. After photographing the design, she swept the sand away, destroying the original artwork.

All Pictures by Marian Bantjes

SEE ALSO: 10 OPTICAL ILLUSIONS THAT ARE ACTUALLY REAL

SEE ALSO: DESIGN INSPIRATION – WIRE SCULPTURE BY RICHARD STAINTHORP