Fathom

September 1-26, 2021
Hang Art, 567 Sutter St. , San Francisco, CA
Email ‭info@hangart.com‬ to make an appointment.

Fathom Oil on Panel 60” x 60”

My recent body of work, showcased in Fathom, salutes the qualities of the ocean that I love and also addresses the plastic crisis. You can preview the show online here.

To create this body of work, I dove deep into the study of the plastic problem.  I researched countless articles, took a course on the Circular Economy at UC Berkeley, and delved into the science of plastic materials and 3D technology to learn more about the problem and possible solutions.

My goal is to help people see the problem in a different light, and inspire more action to solve it.

New works in the show are literal oceans made of plastic, mounted on LED light boxes, alluding to the beauty of the ocean and the illumination we will need to solve the problem.

These artworks are modeled from my paintings of the ocean’s surface, and carved using 3D technology from HDPE plastic.  (think milk jugs and shampoo bottles) My plan was to use recycled HDPE plastic for this project, but this came up against a problem that shows how difficult the single-use plastic problem will be to solve.

Mythic—48” x 48”—Ocean Sculpture carved from HDPE plastic, mounted on light box

Despite curbside recycling programs, only a small percentage of plastic is actually recycled.  The vast majority is put into landfill or incinerated, and some inevitably ends up in the ocean.   A lot of the collected plastic is too contaminated to use.  The quality of recycled plastic is much lower than virgin plastic, and also more expensive to produce.  An extensive search of US markets revealed that no recycled HDPE plastic of sufficient quality for my projects existed, and furthermore, there was very little recycled resin even available on the market.  I want my viewers to understand that current recycling technology will not be able to recover even a fraction of all of the plastic we use, and that we need different solutions.  The good news is that there are many good solutions available, and we need the public to support these measures to solve our plastic problem..

To see the show, email Hang Art at info@hangart.com to schedule an appointment. Unfortunately because of Covid there is no artist’s reception this year. I would love to hear your comments and ideas, and to see you all in person before too long.

To learn more, take my quiz —Can You Fathom This?” —to test your knowledge of plastic pollution. Also check out the tip sheet for ways you can reduce your plastic footprint.