Because the local weather disaster worsens across the globe, its results aren’t any extra obvious than in our oceans and the communities that depend on them. Delicate coral reefs, for instance, face stresses from not solely rising sea temperatures however the residue of human presence—plastics, castoff fishing gear, and different waste.
Heat water is usually the offender in coral bleaching occasions, characterised by algae leaving the organisms and turning them a ghostly white. The algae supplies a meals supply and helps to guard the coral from illness, however when it goes, the host is left way more susceptible. For Ana Brecevic (previously), this phenomenon evokes work that pulls consideration to this pressing concern.
Her latest sequence, Plasticum, displays on the ever-growing downside of plastic air pollution within the earth’s oceans whereas contrasting the fantastic thing about marine ecosystems with their vulnerability to human impression. The artist meticulously cuts silhouettes of bleached corals and gorgonians—also referred to as sea followers—and ornaments them with baubles paying homage to particles.
“I reside alongside the Atlantic coast, the place I accumulate marine waste that evokes and feeds into this physique of labor,” Brecevic says. “The whole lot is constituted of recycled paper, upcycled materials, and pure dyes.”
The artist describes Plasticum as “a quiet echo of a actuality slowly settling in,” the place microplastics and waste regularly threaten underwater habitats and biodiversity. She says, “By this work, I hope to spark questions on our connection to residing ecosystems and what we select to see—or overlook.”
Discover extra on Brecevic’s website and Instagram.
