‘You were never less to begin with’: Inside Eryn Marshall’s Envy, Upcycled

Posted on 5 November, 2025

What we throw away, someone else might treasure. What we envy in others, they may never value in themselves.

These paradoxes are at the heart of Envy, Upcycled, Canberra artist Eryn Marshall’s powerful meditation on the stories we attach to beauty, worth, and value.

Sparking conversations about comparison culture and the subjectivity of beauty in modern society, it’s also deeply personal – a love letter to anyone who’s ever compared themselves and come up short, an experience she knows all too well.

“Envy, Upcycled isn’t about perfection, it’s about permission to feel messy and imperfect,” explains Eryn.

“I hope they see these works and realise they were never less to begin with.”

Envy, Upcycled explores the space between what we hide and what we celebrate, asking the question, what would happen if we reframed envy not as a flaw, but as a way back to authenticity and self-worth?

Since starting her business Eryn Marshall Artistry in 2020, Eryn has been using her art as a tool for social change for the past five years, sparking conversations and breaking down the stigmas surrounding eating disorders. She was recently named Canberra Women in Business Young Business Woman of the Year.

Drawing on her own lived experiences to create art that’s both deeply personal and universally resonant, Eryn – whose artwork has also been featured at Floride in 2023 and 2024 and has previously exhibited at Q Gallery – is now turning her attention to one of our most uncomfortable emotions.

Diving into envy and transforming it, Eryn says that while she once swore that she wouldn’t pursue art as a career, she now sees its power.

Using it as a therapeutic tool during her recovery, art gave her the language she needed to express herself and what she was experiencing. It’s also why she donates five per cent of all sales from Eryn Marshall Artistry to the Butterfly Foundation, Australia’s leading organisation supporting people affected by eating disorders.

“My art became a way of making sense of the chaos… a way to process and communicate what words couldn’t,” Eryn explains.

“When I first started painting seriously, I started to get excited about the future again and became sort of at peace with my disorder. The more I shared my story, the more people connected with me, and painting was a path back to my confident self.”

Now exploring a powerful question – what if that uncomfortable pang of envy could actually point us toward something valuable about ourselves? – the idea for Envy, Upcycled was born from a single painting and an old concept.

Eryn started collecting discarded Barbie dolls in 2021 with the original intention of creating a three-dimensional piece, but the project was put on pause until a painting with bold greens and pinks suddenly inspired her to start thinking about envy.

From there, the idea for the Envy, Upcycled exhibition was born.

“I started reworking discarded materials and the neglected Barbies, mirroring the way we sometimes discard parts of ourselves. The show grew from that question: what if envy isn’t something ugly to hide, but a clue pointing us toward what we truly value?” says Eryn.

Transforming recycled and discarded materials into raw, textural works that challenge how the audience sees themselves and each other, Envy, Upcycled works across painting and mixed media.

Tapping into her own experiences and emotions, Eryn says that her journey to reframing the idea of envy hasn’t been easy – but it has been transformative.

“Envy used to feel ugly to me and something to be ashamed of. It’s easy for jealousy to turn into something toxic,” she says.

“Over time, I realised it’s actually a mirror. When I felt envy, it wasn’t really about the other person, it was showing me what I wanted or maybe what I’d lost. Once I started treating it as information instead of judgement, it became less about lacking and more about learning.”

Eryn says that she hopes Envy, Upcycled can change perceptions of envy and help other people find power in it. The exhibition’s aim is for attendees to leave the gallery feeling a little more accepting, as it proves a powerful point: that the parts of ourselves that we discard might be exactly what someone else treasures.

The exhibition is also giving back in tangible ways.

Opening with a special ticketed event at The Q Exhibition Space at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre on Tuesday 18 November, a percentage of all proceeds and a silent auction at Envy, Upcycled will raise funds for the Butterfly Foundation.

It’s a chance for Eryn to give back to the charity that supported her through her own recovery, and she says that as she continues to lean into her own vulnerability and share her story through art, she’s found strength.

“Vulnerability is a strange kind of armour. I’ve found that the more honest I am, the less power shame has. Art gives me distance and perspective. It turns pain into something tangible that I can stand back and look at with more compassion.”

“When someone sees their own struggle reflected in my art, it sparks a conversation. And that can only be a good thing.”

Showing until Sunday 23 November, you can buy tickets for the opening of Envy, Upcycled here.

Images supplied.