Forever n Ever

Forever n Ever is a site-specific study of plastic waste that washes ashore on Port Melbourne Beach. The images reference traditional Ikebana practices regarding compositional dynamics but subvert those traditions with new juxtapositions of waste and foraged materials. Forever n Ever is a metaphor, a microcosm of the plastic waste deluging our beaches and ocean floors globally. I offer no solutions, simply an awareness that this is happening in Melbourne on a local city beach.

The plastic is industrial in appearance, not from suburban stormwater drains or left by beach visitors. After southerly winds and intense rain, I find plastic deposited at the ends of the beach. Ikebana has influenced my project to generate powerful still-life images, working with formalism to emphasise the beauty and horror of materiality. The project brings together contrasts of formal still-life photography and plastic waste to talk about values concerning environmental degradation. .