Reflection

Reflection

The inspiration behind this handmade, custom jacket comes from the craft of up-cycling and hand painting denim jackets. My artwork is influenced by the youth climate strikes spearheaded by Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg. Attending a climate strike and seeing them through photos and videos in the media was eye-opening and uplifting. The sheer power of our voices and combined efforts to demand changes in government policy and legislature was incredible. I wanted to convey these feelings of hope and awe through fashion which has been a tool for spreading messages throughout history and especially today. Fashion is ingrained American culture but has tremendous drawbacks on our oceans, sea creatures, and water sources with fast fashion increasing that impact. Issues including water consumption, waste, and microfibers are detrimental to aquatic ecosystems and hardly regulated. Furthermore, water pollution disproportionately affects impoverished communities, especially African-American and Latinx communities in the US. Through this jacket, I want viewers to feel inspired to take to the streets and push their representatives to take action on ocean and water pollution, and to be the tides of change. Viewers can also choose to buy second-hand clothing, shorten their shower time, and be mindful of their wash cycles—conscientious habits that I have now embraced to decrease my impact. We, the people, are transforming crisis by raising our voice to protect and regulate our oceans for the prosperity of our communities and our futures.