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Artist Statement
“Flotsam is defined as debris in the water that was not deliberately thrown overboard, often as a result from a shipwreck or accident. Jetsam describes debris that was deliberately thrown overboard by a crew of a ship in distress, most often to lighten the ship's load”— National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website
As a commercial fisherman and inhabitant of a coastal town, I’ve sometimes seen marine debris floating or washed ashore and wondered about its story. For me, the concept of flotsam and jetsam expands to be not just the discarded materials but also their cycle of floating, drifting, discovery, and repurposing.
The ideas and inspirations I have been collecting, like beachcombed objects, came to the surface for this body of work, twining to other themes I’ve explored in my art such as relationships to nature, place, plant and animal neighbors, anxiety, underwater imaginings. Old inspirations were revisited and reinterpreted with more awareness of the grief and joy they could express.
Disaster can be the origin of flotsam and jetsam but there is also resilience in the way discarded things can be salvaged and turned new. Untangling this theme felt like an invitation to explore, to pick up ideas and memories, turn them over, treasure them, or leave them be, to express care, curiosity, and connection. To play.