MEDIUM:
ACRYLIC
SIZE:
12' x 16'
YEAR:
2024
ARTIST:
MEGAN TANG
The Trouble We're In
about.
Every day, millions of our plastics are thrown into the ocean, polluting it and harming ecosystems. This not only affects our animals, but directly affects us humans too. The fish lives in the plastic, eating it, which we then eat the fish we catch. We are essentially eating our own plastics. It's a cycle of destruction. I wanted to create this piece to convey this message; we're no different than the sea creatures. The anthropomorphic sea turtle head is meant to represent us, in a general setting such as a sushi restaurant. The bowl is represented as our earth, which is filled to the brim with plastics. The figure shown continues to eat the plastic, unaware that its directly harming them.
challenge.
The challenge of this piece was the turtles head, and the bowl of plastics it's eating. I did not do a great job of defining the bowl of plastics so it may be difficult to connect my message to the painting. I wasn't sure on how to paint the plastics so I mashed a lot of different pictures of trash together. As for the turtle head, I wanted to capture the essence of the turtles emotions and almost somber expression as it stares into the viewer, almost aware of it's worrisome situation. The details in the turtles face such as eyes, shadows, and the natural turtle markings were all challenges for me. The clothing of the turtle too was a tedious but worthwhile process.
