Jellyfish
Jellyfish 019, 2018. Plastic bag, polyester thread and fabric backing. Machine embroidered onto plastic bags collected by the artist, 14” x 18”. In Private Collection.
This series was inspired to pay homage to a whale that was washed ashore in Thailand with 80 bags in its stomach, and who as a result, met its demise. Many marine animals such as whales and seals misunderstand plastic bags as jellyfish, which they eat. Meanwhile, global plastic production is ever increasing, with no signs of ceasing. This series also reminds us that these ubiquitous single use items end up where they do not belong, alongside so much of our garbage. Plastic micro beads are being discovered in the rainfalls in the Pyrenees, and in a recent exploration to the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean that humankind has ever explored, a plastic bag was found. We ingest alarming amounts of plastic from the containers that our food, beverages and skin products are packaged in, and it is transforming our bodies and our world. Plastic is made from material that was not meant to be violently extracted from our land, and it can easily suffocate us. This series highlights the seductive danger of our obsession with single use plastic, and the detrimental effects it has on so many of our fellow species on this planet.
Series 2017 - ongoing
This series is a humble response to an ongoing emergency from the animal kingdom: plastics are overtaking our ecological systems, especially oceans. “More than 100,000 marine mammals and a million seabirds died because of ingesting or entanglements with plastic each year.” - Ocean Crusaders