The unbiodegradable aliens of the sea, and me.
When I went to Thailand during the monsoon season, I was flabbergasted with the amount of rubbish that washed up on the shores of its beautiful beaches. I began to collect the rubbish - pretty coloured plastic lids, straws, lighters, raincoats, rope, light bulbs, toothbrushes and children's toys. My creative juices were flowing like flotsam down the Mekong.
When I pulled apart hundreds of lighters to make a hanging mobile, I gazed transfixed at the sparkly rainbow guts of components inside. I looked at all the little parts - the pastel-candy plastics, the shiny and dull metals, the rubber rings and teeny foam circles - and I knew this would be my main medium.
Over the course of a few months, friends and I liberated literally thousands of disposable cigarette lighters from the beaches, where they lay strewn after storms, among chip packets and fishing line, polystyrene foam chunks and flip flops. We filled garbage bags with as much waste as we could, even though it seemed futile at times.
The beauty was seeing others doing the same, feeling the same. Although we each had only two hands, we wanted to use them for the greater good. When small children were eager to help, it gave me such a feeling of happy warmth - after all, they are the future, and it's so important that we teach them how to care for the world around them.
So my Ocean Alien mission is to get people talking and thinking about pollution, and what small actions we can take to slow the flow. I want to create beauty from waste, and inspire others along the way.
For more of the story, process and pics, you can come hang with me here on instagram: @ocean_alien
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and peace to you and the planet we inhabit.
