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Walking her dog along the Long Island Sound in Greenport, where she lives, Cindy Pease Roe noticed something different about the shore.
Rather than seeing stray strands of seaweed or washed up seashells, she found herself staring at a bright mix of colors that were not part of the sound’s landscape at all, but rather, pieces of plastic.
As an environmental artist, Ms. Roe creates work that conveys her connection to the sea. When she spotted the debris in the water, she had an idea.
“I started doing wreaths and I was fooling around with it and the idea of doing a whale popped in my head,” she said, explaining how she began making works of art from marine debris.
Her latest round of marine debris artwork will be on display at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum as part of her “Beauty and the Beast” exhibition, which will open on Friday, September 22.
The Beauty in her exhibition, Ms. Roe said, are the sea and all of whales and other beautiful creatures in it, while the Beast is the plastic pollution. The name for the show simply came to her, much like her decision to use marine debris as a medium.
Ms. Roe enjoys playing the role of environmental educator through her artwork.
“The reason I do this is because I want to educate people, so that they understand that every time you use a piece of plastic in your life today, you should be responsible and understand that it’s not going to go away,” she said.
Plastic, she said, is to sea creatures as junk food is to humans. Whales in particular cannot properly digest plastics when they ingest them, and have the illusion of feeling full.
She said people don’t always understand that when plastics wind up in the ocean, they never go away. The sun and the churning sea break plastics down gradually into much smaller pieces, or microplastics.
In addition to educating people, she enjoys engaging people as well, she said. Some of her pieces on display will include sculptures of a blue heron, a life-size sea turtle made from derelict fishing gear, and the “Wishing Whale,” which will be displayed in front of the museum. The “Wishing Whale” piece was created from derelict lobster traps, mylar balloons and massive towlines that have been picked up off the beach. Embedded in the whale are wishes in a bottle, from Southampton community members. The work was first unveiled as part of an Earth Day celebration at the Southampton Arts Center earlier this year.
Whales that she upsculpted—a term she coined—will be displayed as well. Upsculpt is a portmanteau of the words upcycle—the practice of reusing discarded materials to create something better than the original—and sculpt. There will also be plenty of whales, paintings and a few other surprises, Ms. Roe said.
When she is not beachcombing on the North Shore, Ms. Roe hosts workshops in which she invites the public to create artwork out of marine debris. Attendees get an inside look at how Ms. Roe works with marine debris, as well as learn about how to help solve the issue.
“We talk about marine plastics and being part of the solution,” she said. “By learning how to upsculpt and by learning more about plastics you become part of the solution.”
The “Beauty and the Beast” exhibition will start Friday, September 22, and run through Tuesday, October 31. It will be on display from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. daily. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. Visit sagharborwhalingmuseum.org.
on Sep 14, 2017