OCEAN PLASTIC ART

Ocean plastic threatens nearly every marine life form and habitat.

My work aims to raise awareness about the dangers of ocean plastic pollution by recreating sea creatures using some of the huge variety of media that I find in locally sourced marine plastic.

Littering can cause entanglement, intestinal blockage, and poisoning. Removing this utterly man made detritus from the beach takes it out of harms way and helps us to identify what it is and where the waste is coming from.

From the often emotional reactions to my work over the years it has become clear to me that ocean plastic art is an incredibly effective medium for starting conversations about the ocean plastic pollution crisis.

liz.franklin32@yahoo.co.uk

'Trawler Trash' ocean plastic mural

Trawler Trash is a 3m x 3m ocean plastic mural, partly made with a group of 100 Cornish school children in 2014 at the Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn, Exeter University.

Knotty the dog

This hairy creature was made from a huge frayed knot that was washed up on Treganhawk beach, Whitsand bay.

Grey seal sculpture

This young grey seal sculpture was made using cable ties, pieces of rubber, plastic containers, bucket handles and diving flippers. It has resided at the Cornish seal sanctuary since 2015 highlighting the dangers of ocean plastic to these naturally playful curious creatures which often suffer from the effects of getting rope caught around their neck.

Guillemot
The PIB (Polyisobutylene) disaster happened off the coast Cornwall in 2013 when the substance was thought to have been deliberately dumped by a ship out at sea. Thousands of birds died as a result but out of all the marine birds Guillemots had the most casualties. This sculpture was made using cable ties that also been dumped and found washed up on our beaches.

Ammonite
This ammonite sculpture, measuring 1 metre x 1 metre was carved out of a single block of polystyrene. It was most likely to have originally been part of a pontoon float. This ammonite sculpture represents the longevity of plastic. We are living in the plastic age. The signs of which will one day form a layer in the rock strata.

Bird Alert
This sculpture was made using broken, plastic, sea worn objects; Paint brush handles, a dog ball thrower, spaghetti scoop and even a metal lantern stand, all of which were found on the beach.

Frayed rope seat

This seat was made from a rusty metal bed frame. The end legs of the bed were turned upside down to make arm rests. The remaining metal was welded to the front and became front legs. The cover was made from many pieces of found fishing rope weaved into a mesh to make a comfy chair cushion. Discarded fishing rope and nets lost or dumped out at sea continue to kill and injure seals, turtles, dolphins, whales birds and fish. The importance of reporting and recovering lost fishing gear is crucial to preventing ghost fishing. Lost nets go on to kill and damage the sea bed which adds to the problem of over fishing and the loss of bi-catch of species which help to sustain our ecosystem.

John Dory (Zeus faber)
110 x 110 cm

I chose to use the John Dory as an image for raising awareness as it has such beautiful markings, and it looks so sad with it's down turned mouth. I have emphasized the darkness of the spot using the smoothest, blackest pre-production pellets, otherwise know as 'nurdles', to convey a sense of absence, given the increasing loss of fish from our oceans. The John Dory, in all it's detail, was created using approximately 64,000 nurdles and bio beads, (mermaid's tears). These tiny pellets are often used in sewage treatment works to help to purify water but have have escaped into our rivers and ended up floating out to sea. The nurdles used in this picture were collected from Whitsand Bay, South East Cornwall. They are particularly dangerous to fish as they are mistaken for fish eggs, which are the base of their diet. When ingested they cause intestinal blockage and the chemicals and heavy metals contained within them can contaminate their body tissues during the digestive process. These carcinogens are bio-magnified up the food chain to mammals such as seals and dolphins. We eat fish too so ultimately our food could be contaminated.

St Piran's crab (Clibanarius erythropus)

The St Piran's crab grows up to 3 cm long so I decided to make this sculpture, measuring 1 metre across, to get this remarkable little creature noticed. The Clibanarius erythropus is a type of hermit crab, that disappeared from the coast of Cornwall for almost 50 years following the Torrey Canyon oil spill of 1967. It was given the title 'St Piran's Crab' during a Spring Watch competition in 2016.
St Piran is the patron saint of Cornwall. Like the legend of St Piran, we like to think of this little creature as a symbol of hope, that nature is resilient and given chances can recover from man made pollution. The shell base is made from a huge piece of beached polystyrene that measures 1 metre across. and is decorated with small sea worn polystyrene pieces. The extraordinary black and white spotty eyes of this adorable little creature has been replicated using black and white nurdles. Polystyrene is one of the worst and most widespread pollutants of the marine environment, it is very attractive to wildlife that mistake it as food.

M&S Award 2016

I made this as a trophy that was presented at the ocean awards in 2016.
Blue Marine Foundation with Boat's International awarded this to M&S for being one of the first retailers for introducing a plastic bag charge and for their sourcing of sustainable sea food.
The trophy was made using plastic cotton bud sticks, polystyrene and other fragments of ocean plastic. The sculpture was made in the shape of a protective amulet (also a fish hook) The decorations show strong healthy fish swimming in clear bubbly water.

The Phoenix - a symbol of enlightenment, reborn with strength and wisdom
Commissioned by Y.CO yacht company.
Like a phoenix emerging from the ashes, this sculpture expresses the resilience of nature; given chances nature can recover. Humans need to stop taking, and starting giving back to help the marine environment regenerate.
The representation of wings, water, egg, and light from within symbolizes humans need to help nature to flourish. The materials used to make this sculpture are polystyrene, wire, ocean plastic fragments and plastic pellets all collected from local beaches.

Fire/water Phoenix Death/rebirth

Wheel of mixed fortune

I found this circle of compartments (I don't know what it is) on Tregantle beach. It has been very useful for displaying some of our more interesting beach finds. I find beach-combing and learning about the history of things we find fascinating. It is a hobby that is free, helps the environment, and rewards you with artistic inspiration and treasures.

I spray painted Basking shark on the side of the 5 x 2 m container where equipment and our collections of ocean plastic are stored.