How do we best highlight the problems that plastic pollution is causing? We hear in the news every week another horror story of wildlife killed and maimed, poisons and toxins in the microplastics which are now in our food chain, bottled water containing plastic and now that it is likely to be contributing to climate change.
My work has been part of an incredible art show in Kingsand, Cornwall organised by Claire Wallerstein of Rame Peninsula Beach Care who has done so much wonderful work in highlighting marine plastic pollution locally. Rob Arnold (artist) has developed a machine to separate the plastic fragments from sand and displayed a lunar landscape of over 8 million tiny pellets of microplastics that had been collected from the same 100m stretch of local beach in just 18 months. These include nurdles (pre-production plastic pellets used by the plastics industry), and ‘bio-beads’ (biofilters used to treat wastewater by water companies and in other industrial processes). These have somehow spilled into our rivers and seas. The bio-beads can be particularly toxic, often containing poisonous chemicals e.g. lead.
I also showed prints and other framed work in which I utilised plastic:
This show deserves to be seen by a wider audience!
See: Rame Peninsula Beach Care for more information
