Bleached

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Artist: Ruth Tabancay

Title: Bleached

Attribution: Bleached, 2022. Ruth Tabancay

Year: 2022

Materials: Yarn, needle caps and sheaths, vial caps, tubing caps, oxygen tubing, pins, styrofoam

Dimensions: 36" x 40" x 6"

Image Statement: Increasing ocean temperatures, a result of global warming, can be deadly for coral reefs. Instead of stunning colors, a skeleton is left behind. For Bleached, stylized coral reef structures, crocheted in neutral colors, are interspersed with imaginary organisms created from made from plastic medical waste. Three years ago, I received a lung transplant for worsening pulmonary disease. Over the course of my decade-long illness, I accumulated all kinds of plastic waste from home injections, home infusions, and many feet of oxygen tubing. My concern for the environment dictates that I eliminate plastics as much as possible from my life. However, I’m conflicted because using plastics that deliver medication essential to my health runs counter to my beliefs.