An environmental Art Installation of A visual metaphor highlighting the destructive results of man’s waste, consumption, and disregard of nature.

Being an environmental trash artist, focussing on a variety of discarded materials, it is only natural that all environmental issues make their way into my peripheral orb, I have seen “Plastic Paradise” & “Chasing Coral” documentaries. People tag me on social media with issues on waste and recycling issues focussing on plastic and paper. I am active in a variety of local environmental groups, so my progression of things was only natural to arrive to this installation; the Great Barrier” the cumulation of plastic, the incredible waste we create on a daily basis deeply disturbed me, coupled with a project I got involved in shortly before my installation idea, working with the Columbia Bedroll project from the homeless, creating bed rolls from plastic shopping bags. I was motivated to ignite several community- based recycling projects aimed at reclaiming material and redefining the meaning of trash. My latest project, The Great Barrier, was first installed as a 46-foot-long barrier reef constructed from cups, plastic bags, and other detritus collected during my three month residency at Tapp’s Art Center in Columbia. The Great Barrier was in display for one month awing locals and I would like to bring this installation to you.

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Great Barrier

The 46 foot hallway lined with unmeasurable amount of recycled plastic; cups, straws, single use plastic bags, utensils etc. and paper I cut, twisted and pulled to create seaweed, algae, kelp, coral, sponge and more

Ripple Effect

a recycled paper sculpture made with recycled gift tissue paper, junk mail and magazine paper.

in this detail you see coral and sponges made of recycled styrofoam cups we use during our various art crawls. I have several groups saving them for me. A k-cup ring representing coral, cluster of paper mache spores representing barnacles, and strips of ripped plastic bags representing kelp and seaweed.

a cluster of urchins and sponges made of recycled paper

a detail including sponges made with paper and plastic bags, coral with plastic cups and paper cones and anemones made of styrofoam sheets

a closeup of the kelp made of a million strips of recycled plastic bags tied onto a long woven plastic strip. I made approximately 90 feet of the kelp to line the entire hall. I recycled all the paper the art center used to cover the display windows into coral strands and recycled chopsticks, bamboo skewers and plastic utensils using them to add volume and layers to the various coral designs.

The Great Barrier at ArtFields 2018

a closeup look of the installation in the chosen location for the show, the walls were lime green, which changed the whole look of the installation, so we used a filter for this photo.