“By 2050 it is expected that there will be more plastic in our oceans by weight than fish.”
In the present day it becomes increasingly worrying at the amount of plastic found in our oceans. With recycling and reusing plastic not occurring as frequently as it should, more and more plastic ends up making its way out to our oceans. The transformation of plastic bottles, bags, netting and straws, through heat and embroidery processes, explores how they can be turned into highly textural surfaces in response to the trend, that suggest visions of the deepest oceans and how coral reefs are being mutated by plastic, to advocate what is being affected by pollution and the extent of it. The final material surfaces express the dynamic and vivid nature of unharmed corals, as well as showing the brutality of what ocean pollution can cause to these fragile ecosystems that lie beneath the waves, such as coral bleaching, entanglement, trapping and in severe cases suffocation. Colour and materiality will also be explored and discovered through photography, in the form of a photo book and supporting photos.
Reusing and repurposing materials is currently a huge trend across many industries to help to reduce waste, so this project would appeal to the trend industry, but the collection may also have applications in other industries such as interior design, visual merchandising and jewellery. The main inspirations of the project came from my childhood, where walks along beaches looking for hidden treasures and snorkelling abroad allowed me to see and connect with the world that lives underwater, which I instantly fell in love with.
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