Bending with the Tide
There is a rhythm to working with materials that have already lived a life. This experiment has been in my mind for at least nine months, moving it out to the studio I framed it as question: can discarded soft plastic bags be transformed into a workable, tactile canvas?
The answer arrived not through rigid control, but through heat, layering, and letting the material dictate its own form.
Plastici-SEA: Bending with the Tide (Surface & Depth) came out of a period of deep personal and creative processing. In early 2026, as news flooded in of sharks circulating off Sydney’s coastline—captured from high-altitude drone cameras as shadowy forms moving beneath unsuspecting swimmers—I found myself reflecting on the unseen pressures and unexpected disruptions that occur in our own lives. That sensation of something circling in the murky background before taking a bite is both visceral and universal.
To respond to these turbulent waters, I turned to the studio substrate. Supermarket white and blue carrier bags were fused together under heat, embedded with discarded orange and yellow fruit netting. As the plastic melted and set, it split and separated in places, creating an organic, lace-like webbing reminiscent of fish scales or sunlight fracturing through tide pools. Rather than trimming the piece into a neat rectangle, I preserved its raw, asymmetrical deckled edges—honouring the plastic’s unrefined origin.
The painting process carried that same spirit of adaptability. Working brush-free, I applied paints rescued from landfill alongside new to industry bio-products, scraping the surface with expired credit cards. As the paint clung to the plastic edges, unpredictable textures emerged—mimicking the ebb and flow of deep ocean currents.
The word plasticity refers to the physical nature of synthetic materials, but psychologically, it defines resilience. It is the capacity to bend, yield, and adapt to shifting tides without breaking. Plastici-SEA stands as a tactile testament to taking single-use waste—and personal upheaval—and reshaping it into a space of strength and renewal.
• Cardboard paper
• Paper weight: 7.67–10.32 oz/yd² (260–350 g/m²)
• Size: 4″ × 6″ (101 × 152 mm)
• Paper thickness: 0.013″ (0.34 mm)
• Coated outer surface
• Blank product materials sourced from Sweden, US, Brazil, or China