PLASTIC POLLUTION

This is the original project that set me on the path toward environmental art. I have always been interested in the environment, but I had not addressed environmental issues before in my work prior to this project. I was inspired by the initial experiments in the darkrooms; a workshop at university that encouraged us to bring in objects and materials to create photograms. At the time I had read an article about the human impact on the ecosystem, specifically the number of plastic bottles in the sea. Combining plastic bottles with photographs of fish to comment on the prediction that there will be more plastic bottles that there is fish in the ocean by 2020. As my project developed I incorporated plastic microbeads, found in beauty products, in my darkroom method. These micro-beads have been banned by the government since.

Although I originally produced my images in the darkroom, I took them to Photoshop to complete the final images. The darkroom outcomes alone did not present the issue in an alarming manner because the darkroom layering technique created fantastical scenery. Incorporating another medium of black ink represented further the fragility of the oceanic ecosystem by connoting impressions of toxicity, contamination, and pollution. The cropping of my darkroom outcomes purposely forces the viewer to share my uncertainty by obstructing the horizon to act as a metaphor for an uncertain future.