This study explores the notion of pedagogical relationality in art education, focusing on recycled materials in aesthetic learning processes. The aim is to answer the following questions: In what ways can creative work with recycled materials contribute to the understanding of pedagogical relationality within the art subject? and In what ways can photo-elicitation of sculptures made from recycled materials create knowledge about pedagogical relationality in art education? Drawing from workshops in which participants sculpted figures from recycled materials – such as used packages and thrown-out electronics – as well as the method of photo-elicitation for gathering data about the participants feelings, thoughts, and overall experiences with working with the material in a pedagogical context; relational dynamics between different agents (human and non-human) were uncovered and co-created. The participants' discussions, when analysed through a diffractive lens, made visible the ways in which recycled materials and storytelling can work as active agents in the shaping of pedagogical and aesthetic experiences. The results thus highlight these different agents as (co-)creators of knowledge in an aesthetic learning process, and emphasize the interconnectedness between people, materials, discourse and environment in learning. With this paper I hope to contribute to diffractive ways of inquiring about the pedagogical field of art education.