ECOSYSTEM
Research-based Arts
Exploring Microplastics in Water
The more scientific papers I read, the more I became concerned about how invisible pollutants move through the environment, enter what we consume, and ultimately reach the human body. I wanted to make these hidden risks visible to others, and art became a way for me to translate what I was learning into something tangible and emotionally immediate.
As my work developed, my questions expanded beyond microplastics. I began paying closer attention to water contamination around me, including pollution in the Hackensack River near my school, and became increasingly interested in contaminants such as PFAS and their broader effects on environmental and human health.
Through my work, I translate scientific evidence into tactile and visual forms, using art to explore the materials we depend on, the pollutants we cannot easily see, and the traces they leave behind.
Within
Plastic consumed by a mother can break down into small particles and enter the body. Recent studies have found microplastics in human placentas, raising concerns that environmental exposures during pregnancy may affect the fetus. What enters a mother’s body does not necessarily remain with her alone; it can become part of the environment in which her baby grows.
Studies in Natural Balance
This section explores the beauty of the ocean and nature, as well as nature’s ability to restore and cleanse itself. Sea otters play an important role in maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems, while humans interact with nature, shaping it and finding healing through it. In this way, humans and nature are not separate, but coexist within one interconnected system.
Studies of Self and Connection
Understanding myself is also a way of understanding how we live together.
