Abigail Hinton
Preface
My name is Abigail Hinton, and my portfolio is titled “Angela Haseltine Pozzi: Trash to Treasure”. The type of license I will be using is CC BY (Attribution).
Introduction
Angela Haseltine Pozzi is an American sculptor who founded the project called “Washed Ashore”. Her work focuses on incorporating the use of our ocean plastic waste in making large sculptors. There are around 85 sculptures which include many sea creatures such as seals, polar bears, penguins, fish, and much more. Her goal through this project is to raise awareness about plastic pollution, and many volunteers wanted to participate in the project, either through beach cleanups or making the sculptures.
Themes
One theme present in her sculptures is the negative impact humans have on the environment, especially on wildlife. Humans impact the environment in many ways, and one big way is through pollution. Single-use plastics are a big contributor of marine plastic pollution and it is a very important environmental issue. Plastic pollution has many effects on the environment through the release of toxins as well as a direct link in the deaths of many kinds of marine life. Our choices have many detrimental and deadly consequences on the environment and wildlife.
Another theme present is that it takes a community to create change. To help prevent and cleanup pollution, it takes a lot of people. One person can help, but to truly make a difference, a group effort is needed. This can also be seen in the construction of the sculptures as well. Angela uses a large group of volunteers to help make the sculptures. The materials that are used in the sculptures are also collected using volunteer efforts. Solving environmental issue, such as plastic pollution, can be done by working together.
Analysis
The Washed Ashore Project grew from Angela Pozzi’s interest in the ocean. After she learned more about ocean pollution, especially at the beaches located near her in Oregon, she was prompted to do something about it. She decided to start making sculptures using debris only found at beaches. Her sculptures can be found at an array of places including zoos, museums, and aquariums. The seal and octopus sculptures in the first two images were located at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in 2016. They were featured with 15 other sculptures in an exhibit called “Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea”. The third image of the sea turtle is located at a gallery in Bandon, Oregon. All the sculptures are made to look like sea creatures that are commonly affected by plastic pollution. Many of these animals are killed due to ingesting plastic, such as sea turtles who mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, or becoming entangled in it, such as nets getting wrapped around seals. The motivation behind creating the sculptures was to bring awareness to the amount of pollution humans produce as well as the negative effects our consumer habits have. We have a very disposable society in today’s world, and Angela wants these sculptures to make people think about how their consumer choices are impacting the environment.
Application
These sculptures were made in a materialistic and throw-away society. Many of our products were not meant to last and are very disposable. Just by using reusable items, like bags, bottles, and straws, will be able to stop some of the plastic pollution people put into the environment.
Angela Pozzi also tries to use art as a way to teach people around the world about marine plastic pollution. Since the project is a traveling exhibit, the sculptures are able to educate and inspire people from many different locations to take action to help stop the global problem of plastic pollution. Instead of educating just through facts, she uses “art that people can touch, that isn’t precious,” so that they can get a more hands on experience and actually see some of the trash that has been found on beaches. Also, since many of these sculptures are at zoos and aquariums, people will see the real life animal as well as the trash ones, which further deepens the message of the negative affects plastic has on wildlife.
