From watching War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita, I have been more aware about my use of single use plastics. What I didn’t know, was the extent of plastics in the sea and how they are entering our food chain. The Guardian have written a very interesting article on How Plastic Got into our Fish, of which, you can find here.

This led me to start creating fish out of plastics, creating a sense of irony as plastics are destroying our marine wildlife.

I decided to collage the fish onto crisp packets. I used plastic bags from Sainsbury’s and John Lewis to create the body of the fish and then added details with any single use food packaging I had. I just fused it together on the plastic, but I think I did it a little too long as the plastic crinkled up. I then added some embroidery using the plarn I made.

This led me to create another sample of the fish. This time, I doubled the main fish body shape layer and used the underside of some of my old samples to create the scales. I loved the texture of this foil, as it really looks like scales due to the bubbling of the plastic. I also added a white eye, which is made from the handles of a shopping bag and extra little fins out of any scraps I had from making the fish. I was very aware of using up any scraps of plastic I had left over to make other parts of my designs.

Using this waste not, want not perspective I made little samples out of the scraps of plastic that I fused together. This is why I like this technique so much as it as it so easy to fuse the plastics together. I was thinking how this technique would work with fabrics, but there isn’t such an easy way without getting the sewing machine out. If you guys have any suggestions to this, let me know!

Using these little scrap samples, I attached them onto the tails of the fish. Joining the two pieces of plastic together, seemed a little difficult as it melted some of the tail. However, I really like the effect as it shows how plastics are causing fishes to disintegrate. I also added a French knot for an eye.

Lets hope the fish just keep swimming!