Reflection

Reflection

My piece was created for a propaganda assignment in my printmaking class. At the time, I automatically knew I wanted to do it on ocean awareness because I was heavily inspired by the PangeaSeed Sea Walls projects. They had recently visited Maui and painted multiple murals on my school’s campus. Here in Hawai’i, the ocean is a vital part of our lives since we are completely surrounded by it. On Maui, we have already taken steps to reduce pollution in our oceans by banning plastic bags and styrofoam containers. However, learning about the unbelievable amount of damage we have done to our oceans and marine life left me feeling disappointed and terrified for our future. That is why I chose to not only title but include the words “Damage is Done” in my piece. I wanted to show viewers that what we see isn’t always the full story. I portrayed this by drawing a beautiful whale above the surface, and a broken, dying ecosystem below the ocean’s surface. I created this triptych by using the same silkscreen print in green and blue, and reusing the transparency that I used to burn the design onto the screen. From there, I altered the images by using a variety of media such as watercolors, markers, metallic pens, glazes and recycled paper cut outs. I wanted to spread awareness about the damage we are causing to our planet in hopes to inspire others to take steps toward a cleaner future and environment.