Ocean in Red

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Painted as part of Rise Up Residency

This piece is in response to the growing crisis of microplastics. We are told to recycle, that it’s the consumer’s responsibility but this is another beautifully executed ploy by capital-driven producers, to pass the onus onto the public without offering alternatives and oversaturate the market. Plastics are a particularly egregious substance being a product of crude oil, it further perpetuates the systems and reliance on oil.

Only about 35% of sorted recyclables are recycled, and vast amounts end up in the ocean, where friction and sunlight break them down to the smallest component.  Becoming about the size of a hair, these plastic particles mimic marine snow (floating organic matter) and enter our food chains. We all have microplastics in us and the health implications are not fully understood but one can only imagine the harm.

I wanted to create a mural showing someone breaking out of this cycle, showing them in what at first seems like pretty snow, but on second inspection you see the signs of pollution, floating and breaking off of her clothes, which are a massive producer of microplastics. We are stuck in modes of production and consumption but don’t need to be, there are so many alternatives possible.

This wall was created with only Graphenstone latex paint which absorbs carbon as it cures for 30 days. It is also a net zero carbon paint manufacturer.

Acrylic on Brick
2022

Photo Credit: Rebecca Douglas @rebeccadouglasphotography and Conor Gault @wallkandy

Model Credit: Sara Minard