Debris Pile #01
By Erin Coughlin
I am telling the story of the Maine Coast, how it is changing, and what can be done to ensure a resilient future for both the environment and the communities that inhabit it. Growing up and going to college in Maine, the coast has always been an important part of my life. As a scientist, I have studied the coast and become even more familiar with its subtleties – what lives in the water, how pollution affects organisms as small as plankton, and how the rocky coast was formed, for example. Close observation helps me notice and document the change of a place, whether due to seasons, climate change, or weather.
While exploring, working, and researching on Maine’s coast, I am constantly encountering piles of debris, unfortunately now as familiar as rocks, seaweed, and periwinkles. These brightly colored pieces stand out from the gray beaches and dominate the scenery, and I find myself incorporating images of debris in my prints just as often as natural elements. Litter in our oceans poses a myriad of problems, from entanglement and ingestion by marine life to breakdown into microplastics. By weaving images of this debris into my work, I hope to inspire others to think critically about where our waste ends up and how we can minimize or reuse these products.
