Our Plastic Ocean on show in Inverness
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An inspiring, thought-provoking, and topical exhibition by an international award-winning photographer is currently on show in Inverness.
The exhibition, called ‘Our Plastic Ocean’, features works by Mandy Barker and addresses the current global crisis of marine plastic pollution, showing the photographer’s powerful and captivating images of debris she has collected from shorelines across the world.
Cathy Shankland, High Life Highland’s visual arts curator explained: “The exhibition, which premiered at the Impressions Gallery, Bradford, is the first major touring retrospective of Mandy Barker’s work.
“At first glance, her images are reminiscent of sea creatures and corals suspended in a dark void beneath the sea, but closer inspection reveals a more disturbing reality.
“Collecting and using footballs to fishing nets, cotton-buds to coffee-cup lids, Barker highlights the incongruous plastic items now ubiquitous in our seas.”
She went on: “Currently, eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year and if we project this travesty until 2050, it will mean that our oceans could contain more plastic than fish.”
From accompanying scientists on an expedition from Hawaii to Japan, tracing the debris of the 2011 Tsunami, to a voyage on board Greenpeace’s Beluga II to the Inner Hebrides, Mandy Barker has followed a trail of plastic pollution across the globe.
The images resulting from these expeditions have become some of the most recognisable visual commentary on marine plastic pollution.
The photographer herself said: “For the past decade, I have researched and documented the impact of oceanic waste, combining art and science to raise awareness.
“I hope to inspire positive action in tackling this increasing environmental challenge which is of global concern”.
The touring exhibition has been curated by Angela Sheard, who explained: “We are proud to launch the first major UK touring retrospective of Mandy Barker’s work.
“Barker’s images are both rich in detail and hard-hitting in subject.
“As a charity that helps people understand the world through photography, it’s important for us to share this compelling work which explores an urgent and timely issue.”
Mandy Barker’s work has been published in over 40 countries and in publications including National Geographic, TIME Magazine, The Guardian and The Financial Times.
Our Plastic Ocean spans a decade of Barker’s work including the series Soup, meticulously detailed composite images of discarded plastic objects; Albatross revealing 276 pieces of plastic found inside the stomach of a 90-day old albatross chick; and Beyond Drifting, which sees Barker trace the footsteps of 19th century botanist John Vaughan Thompson who collected plankton specimens, the ocean’s most basic life-form.
The exhibition also features a case of sand permeated with microplastics recovered from a Hawaiian beach and an installation of suspended footballs, crowdsourced from around the world for her 2014 World Cup project Penalty.
The exhibition runs at the Inverness Museum and Gallery until October 15 before moving on to Caithness where it can be seen from October 22 to December 3.
For details of all current exhibitions at the Inverness gallery see https://www.highlifehighland.com/inverness-museum-and-art-gallery/
