No Time to Waste.
Eco-Art Competition 2021.

The environmental issue shown in my piece “Suffocation of Our Seas” is plastic and waste being dumped into the ocean. It relates to the theme “No Time to Waste” by showing how our, humans, self-serving ways have brought about misery in the oceans surrounding us. This environmental issue is important to me as I find the ocean a beautiful and wonderful place. But humans are destroying our planet by being selfish and not taking the time to properly look after the world we live in. According to National Geographic research, more than 5.25 TRILLION pieces of plastic debris float around our oceans and that number grows every day, yet we do nothing. This means that we are constantly destroying it, suffocating nature and the other inhabitants of this planet which is cruel and corrupt. My work uses a mermaid of recognizable design to show how waste in the ocean affects creatures and pollutes it. The recognizability of the mermaid will hit home with people of all ages and the fact that this creature I have illustrated looks semi-human means the viewer can relate it to themselves. I have depicted literal waste here smothering the ocean, in particular plastic can holders which can be seen suffocating the mermaid. I see this entry affecting others by upsetting them. It should bring about a sense of horror at what is happening around us that we choose to ignore because we cannot directly relate to the real turtles and sea creatures that this affects every day. I want the relatability of my piece to really show how we affect the oceans and instil a fear in those who see it, encouraging them to do something about it and to help improve our world in any way they can.