Reflection

Every day, humans are faced with a series of decisions regarding how to deal with waste. Unfortunately, much of the industrial waste and plastic waste generated is directly discharged into the ocean. Often times, people are stuck in the mindset that their individual lack of awareness towards waste disposal will not change the course of climate change. Over time, people become indifferent towards how they treat their waste. Today, the collective ignorance of people is manifested in the deaths of many marine organisms. In my artwork, I wanted to show how the actions of individuals can build up and harm marine wildlife. For the marine wildlife in my piece, I wanted to emphasize the wide array of organisms that are affected by pollution, so I selectively placed endangered species, overfished species, and keystone species across the composition. In the top half of my piece, I wanted to draw a parallel between the mass destruction caused by the atomic bomb to the mass destruction taking place in the ocean caused by the buildup of pollutants and plastic. The elegance of the jellyfish is juxtaposed with the chaos of the mushroom cloud, creating tension between the natural world and human-induced destruction. When people look at my piece, I hope they realize that the presence of a healthy future for the ocean is dependent on present actions and environmental choices.