Seagull (2024)

To me, trash and debris makes the perfect art medium, because every piece I find is unique in its own way, with color, texture, and weathering. Seagull is created mainly out of ocean trash collected on the beach in Florida. It focuses on themes of plastic pollution in oceans, and bird population decline.

I prefer working with trash that is washed up from the oceans because they are more sterile, and the salt from the ocean creates an interesting weathered texture to the materials that I can’t get from land litter.

Sculpting Process

Intended as a wall sculpture, the seagull is left for the viewer to interpret as either dead or flying. I aimed to create an ironic sense of value by embedding pearl beads and my childhood rhinestone earrings in its body.

By putting a mirror in the bird’s stomach, its position on the wall invites viewers to see their own reflection as they engage with the sculpture’s details.