Plastic Addiction — MOAH Cedar, Lancaster Museum of Art, California

Plastic Addiction
Installation; plastic debris
2′ × 2′
2016

Plastic Addiction is a sea turtle made from plastic debris I gathered on beaches in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. I first assembled it in my Bay Area studio, then recreated it at MOAH: CEDAR. After the exhibition, I dismantled the piece and used the plastic in other projects.

Part of SMALLER FOOTPRINTS: Artists Examine Global Warming, co-presented by the Lancaster Museum of Art & History and WEAD (Women Eco Artists Dialog)
MOAH: CEDAR, Lancaster, California, January–March 2016

 

Sea turtle made of plastic debris found on California beaches in the making at the MOAH cedar.
Finished piece.
Detail
MOAH Cedar in Lancaster, CA.
Collecting plastic debris on Ocean Beach, December 2015.
Plastic debris found on Pacifica beach.
Made with plastic debris found on Santa Cruz beach, January 2016
Sea turtle made with plastic debris found on Santa Cruz beach, January 2016
Plastic debris on Isabella, Galapagos Island, August 2016.

Statement for the piece

As an artist, educator, citizen, and mother, I had a smaller footprint on my mind. At the time, I lived in densely populated Silicon Valley, between the Pacific Ocean and the unique ecosystem of San Francisco Bay. Walking along the shore, I collected what the tides left behind, mostly plastic, and made temporary assemblages. I photographed them and shared them on screen with my students in lessons about pollution in our own region.

Millions of tons of plastic float in the ocean, and more than half of the world’s sea turtles have eaten it. Plastic runs through our daily lives, and changing our habits is hard, but some changes are within reach, starting with single-use bottles, straws, and cup lids.

The piece grew out of my teaching. With Montalvo Arts Center, I developed lessons that bring art into elementary school curricula, including The Water Project: six lessons on the water cycle, our watershed and water use, and plastic pollution in the ocean. Related installations include Species Encounter: Dive In!, a participatory shadow theater on plastic in the ocean; Sip. Do Not Gulp. at the de Saisset Museum, on the history of water in the Santa Clara Valley; and Plankton, Our Invisible Foundation at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History.