Shed Salty Tears Part 1 (2024) is an installation of ceramic and reclaimed material sculptures which exemplify its concern for the oceans which are in the process of being destroyed by humans. The centre of the installation showcases a female bust that expresses sadness and has an elongated neck. This sadness seems to be directed as the voice of the planet, sorrowful at the state of environmental degradation which humanity’s industrialisation and wasteful tendencies have brought upon.
Rusted metals, crushed cans, and discarded plastic are forms of industrial waste within the work, and by being used, not only is it sustainable, but it also implies how waste persists in our ecosystems and pervades everything within this natural world. These materials had become useless until being repurposed in the composition, which challenges the viewer to think about what they consume and where the object may go once consumed.
Upon the seascape (which could be represented by the blue fabric on which the sculptures sit), there is a set of three bleached corals. There is still a small amount of colour within these corals yet this colour looks like it could be pollution onto them rather than natural (as the colours are shifting from dark green to orange sporadically). The objects that float in this seascape (the cans) seem to surround the ocean life, taking the space away from the natural lifeforms.
Shed Salty Tears – Broadcast News Part 2 (2024) introduces itself instantaneously with the shell, which is wired to a rotary dial phone base. The connection of the shell to the phone base connected to the ocean, as seen in the installation, allows us to conceptually ‘hear’ the ocean itself from the shell. Through the artist’s description, we know that the work is about refugees escaping to a new life on unsafe journeys across the sea- these sounds are not just of the sea but of those suffering to find a better life.
Thus, through listening, we are invited to become aware of the issue as the sea is no longer a peaceful sound but rather telling us of the unheard- those who are risking everything to find a new life. The outdated technology the shell is connected to could suggest that humanity is disconnected from what is happening. By using something old and potential (through the copper-looking cord), people are blind to the truth of the situation and thus look to the ocean, unaware of the treacherous journey and the pain that it causes to refugees travelling for a better life.
Shed Salty Tears Part 3 (2024) captures the viewer’s eye directly to the cage, which is authoritative and holds three jellyfish captive; however, there are still some trapped within this cage. The cage itself is surrounded by the ocean’s corals, clams and shells – however – these organisms are bleached and lack any colour. This points a finger towards the environmental degradation that humanity is causing, while the cage represents the objects of human waste which entrap marine life. Going further away from these sculptures, we find a trapped turtle entangled within a rusted wire net, pushing the message of artificial objects trapping and infecting the oceans and the life within them.
These objects were most likely used for a home interior, which one would use often for light; the metal lampshade, which would have served a purpose- however has become a cage in which thus it is transformed into an object which doesn’t help spread light but is now restricting and causing suffering to life. The material from which the jellyfish sculptures (ceramic) are made is fragile, symbolising how fragile marine life is under human presence.