Plastic Coral – Sustainable Art at AWRE (Part 2)

We sat down with Maria Gallo, curator and artist for a behind the scenes making of the ‘PLASTIC CORAL’ art piece that will come to life at AWRE 2017.

The sculpture will be a colourful and warm welcome to AWRE. Resembling a nave of a gothic cathedral stain glass windows that are traditionally made in flat panels, Plastic Coral will be composed of plastic bottles and bottle caps and represent the Great Barrier Reef.

 

How is the construction process going?
The construction is going really well. It is now 50% done and I’m focusing on getting blues and whites for the other half to be the water and sunshine of the Coral Panel.

 

Where have you collected the materials from?
I have mostly collected the materials from work, which is a bakery but also my local cafe and my friend’s local cafes.

 

How has the project evolved?
The project has evolved basically in terms of 2 weeks. We collect for 2 weeks and we build for a whole day on the weekends.

 

Have you been inspired by anything new (for example: new trends in waste/recycling/sustainability)?
I have always made artworks, clothes, built furniture from recycled materials. I have always seen a real potential in ready-made materials because there is so much industrial waste, I’ve seen that using this waste saves time but also you are showing and inspiring others with potential ideas to make something beautiful with a message that is present. In this case I was inspired but other artist that had used this medium to make murals and my massage is that there’s a lot of plastic in our oceans and is contaminating our natural resources, like the Great Barrier Reef.

 

What movement influences your work most?
No particular movement, just reusing materials and sharing it with whoever wants to see it! Trying not to contribute to using too many new materials but if need be, the materials should always be sustainable when possible.

 

Read part 1 of the Sustainable Art series at AWRE here.

 

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See Plastic Coral come to life live at AWRE 2017. Register free now and join us for Part 3 of the ‘Sustainable Art’ story to see how the project progresses closer to show.

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