MISHVANIA ARTIST - ocean plastic sculptures

"My journey with marine plastics started as a child when I used to collect what I called back then “mermaid’s tears” on the beach in Plettenberg Bay where I grew up. Years later whilst walking on the beach in Kommetjie, with my children I spotted these same “mermaid tears”. After some research, I learnt that they are called plastic pellets (nurdles) - a raw form of plastics before they get manufactured into plastic products! For the past 8yrs, I have been made increasingly aware of marine debris and microplastics that get washed up onto our shores. Specifically in Kommetjie (Cape Town) where I now live. I collect microplastics almost daily and now with quite a large collection, I decided in 2020 that our ocean needs a voice and I need to make people aware of this catastrophic issue that is posing a great threat and impacting the environment, marine life, and oceans across the planet. The environmental awareness art that I now create is made up of unaltered pieces of microplastics and marine pollution that I have collected on the beach. “If I don't show you. You will not see!” MishVania