More Than Jellyfish
The title of this series comes from a newspaper headline proclaiming the shocking fact that there are now more disposable masks in our oceans than jellyfish. This follows on from my covid litter series Glove Story but also the ongoing Beached series.
I started photographing the discarded masks while on my government mandated health walks. The wired nose piece gave them structure even once removed. The ear elastics mage them perfect for people the hang from trees and fences like people do with dog poo bags; sometimes twisted into cocoon like forms.
Of course this time I couldn’t use the actual litter to cast in for health risk reasons but also practically. Instead I chose a variety of plastic food waste trays with embossed ridges and grooves that reflected the folds in the mask. Rather than using them flat, I manipulated them to recreate the forms of the discarded used masks.
2022
Untold, Prism Contemporary Textiles Collective exhibition, Art Pavilion, Mile End, London.
2023
Spark: Artist Interventions in a Time of Crisis, Rogue Project Space, Manchester.
Related Content
-
Beached
The Beached series highlights the issue of plastic pollution and how our actions effect our environment. How the small and discarded are still significant.
-
Glove Story: A Tale of COVID-19
On my government mandated lockdown health-walks, I noticed a change in the local litter: fewer bottles and take-away cartons, more disposable gloves and masks. I started to photograph these finds as a way of documenting the crisis: twisted, discarded gloves on pavements and in gutters. Some looking still occupied by hands, others forming gestures or […]
-
Green Loop Project – Art Trail
Fylde Council commissioned me to create a series of mixed media sculptures exploring plastic pollution in the area, particularly the coast. I used what I found on the beach clean with the workshop participants as inspiration to develop a set of artworks that were specific to the issues in the area. I found local businesses […]
