Over the past year, I worked on a series of marine animal sculptures made from crepe paper and elements of trash.
This is a project very close to my heart. I created these sculptures to call attention to the fact that our oceans and the wildlife dependent on them are under threat in so many ways right now.
The seas offer a habitat for countless living things. Researchers suspect that up to 10 million species live in the oceans. Many of them are still unexplored.
But the oceans are exposed to massive problems such as Plastic and other Pollution, Overfishing, Acidification, Extraction of natural resources and the Climate Crisis, which endanger the fragile balance of the sensitive ecosystems.
The sculptures are handmade with wire and hand-dyed crepe paper and incorporate elements of trash.
To illustrate the information on the plastic problem, I've also created some papercut illustrations.
Funded by an artist grant as part of the NRW Corona aid.
A Hermit crab living in an old tin can
A cuttlefish tangled in a fishernet
A Little Stint covered in oil
A seahorse clinging to a plastic straw
Animals confuse the plastic with food and eat it. Many starve with a full belly or suffocate. The sharp edges might also cause severe injuries
Only 9% of all the plastic that has ever been made is recycled
Small particles of plastic are called microplastic and they are especially problematic
Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Every little step counts!
