Plastic pollution harms water quality, wildlife, ecosystems, and the economy. Animals are killed by entanglement (getting trapped in debris) and ingestion (consuming debris). Global markets produce over 350 millions of tons of plastic each year, much of it designed to be used once and thrown “away.”
This project creates to-scale images of 46 species harmed by entanglement and ingestion (Laist 1997). This is a small proportion of the total- the chapter names over 260 species while a later article found entanglement and/or ingestion for over 500 species (Kühn et al. 2015).
The images are created by hand-sewing difficult-to-recycle film plastics onto canvas. The work highlights the magnitude of the problem while reflecting on the kind of plastics we encounter in our everyday lives, tying us to their survival and them to our consumption.
All of these animals are being created TO SCALE– showing the actual size of the creatures impacted by plastic pollution
Want to see change? Tell your Congressional representatives to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021
Atlantic Cod, 2021, 40.5 x 22 inches
Atlantic Puffin, 2021, 13 x 15 inches
Kat Owens 
Your artwork is so beautiful, the message is so clear and strong, and the work you’re doing is really interesting (and important). Thank you for sharing these images!