Due to its mild seaside climate, my country is an ideal place for whale sightings. For many people in the coastal region, being able to see a blue or a humpback whale is not a rare occurrence, leading to a lucrative bio-marine tourism industry.
Ironically, Peruvian beaches are some of the most polluted in the world. I’ve been involved in two annual beach-cleaning projects and have been stunned by the countless bottles and plastic bags that spread across the shoreline of Lima alone. This is a factor that inspired my piece.
My art project is my version of the “iceberg” metaphor: people can only see the portion above the surface but are oblivious to the portion undersea. I feel this is the case in Peru (as in many other countries); people can appreciate the whales yet fail to realize that by continuing to litter the sea with their plastic waste, they are responsible for the extinction of this cetaceous, which may unknowingly mistake the plastic for food. Therefore in my work I portray a whale emerging from the water – while the portion above the water is a regular painting of the animal, the submerged portion is the outline of the whale made completely out of plastic waste. I used acrylic to paint the upper whale and watercolours for the sea and sky. For the submerged portion I made a collage, pasting real plastic wrappers that I had painted and cut to resemble real waste.
“Plastic Whale” Beach Towel
$20
Description
Express the importance of protecting our oceans with a lightweight beach towel featuring the original artwork of Dafne Murillo (Lima, Peru). Dafne was a winner of the 2014 Ocean Awareness Contest.
Details
- 60″ L x 30″ W
- 100% cotton
Due to its mild seaside climate, my country is an ideal place for whale sightings. For many people in the coastal region, being able to see a blue or a humpback whale is not a rare occurrence, leading to a lucrative bio-marine tourism industry.
Ironically, Peruvian beaches are some of the most polluted in the world. I’ve been involved in two annual beach-cleaning projects and have been stunned by the countless bottles and plastic bags that spread across the shoreline of Lima alone. This is a factor that inspired my piece.
My art project is my version of the “iceberg” metaphor: people can only see the portion above the surface but are oblivious to the portion undersea. I feel this is the case in Peru (as in many other countries); people can appreciate the whales yet fail to realize that by continuing to litter the sea with their plastic waste, they are responsible for the extinction of this cetaceous, which may unknowingly mistake the plastic for food. Therefore in my work I portray a whale emerging from the water – while the portion above the water is a regular painting of the animal, the submerged portion is the outline of the whale made completely out of plastic waste. I used acrylic to paint the upper whale and watercolours for the sea and sky. For the submerged portion I made a collage, pasting real plastic wrappers that I had painted and cut to resemble real waste.