Vancouver artist turns ocean trash into treasure.Meet the Pacific Garbage Patch Babies

For the past year, Vancouver resident Alyn Spector’s trash has been piling up. From bread bags and food containers to shopping bags and other single-use plastics, Spector has been ditching her family’s trash in the name of art.

Spector drew inspiration from the popular Garbage Pail Kids trading cards and television show of the late 1980s to create four sculptures using recycled plastic materials. Sea creatures Norbert the Narwhal, Scrappy the Octopus, Patch the Turtle and Jellyfish Danger will be featured at the Southwest Washington Watershed Alliance’s upcoming Earth Day fundraiser.

Events will begin Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Dandelion Teahouse & Apothecary, 109 W. Seventh St., Vancouver.

Attendees will learn more about the Spectors carving process and the ocean, and can make their own miniature Pacific Garbage Patch baby. Specter said his artwork is intended to draw attention to serious issues.

I often hear about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and how it covers an area of ​​ocean the size of Texas. “It’s pretty big and it’s right off our coast,” Spector said.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean, most of which comes from plastic. The garbage patch, also known as the Pacific Garbage Vortex, is actually two different collections of debris. The Eastern Garbage Patch is located hundreds of miles along the west coast of the United States, while the Western Garbage Patch is located east of the island of Japan.

Specter said that after learning about trash patches and how plastics pollute the environment, he began to think about his contribution to the problem.

“I started collecting some plastic and started thinking about how much we really use,” he said. I’m imagining this horrific future where there’s so much used plastic and it’s getting into the ecosystem and the bloodstream of living things, and I’m imagining this fantastic future where these guys have mutated into whatever’s left.

Mikalayah Jones, volunteer coordinator for the Watershed Alliance, said Spectors Art is a great fit for the fundraiser.

“We’re all for it,” she said.

Jones said the hands-on nature of participants making their own Trash Patch Babies using recycled plastic sets it apart from other fundraisers.

I see it more as a hybrid workshop/fundraiser. “I thought it would be really fun,” she said. We’ll hear from Arlin about his process for making sculptures and what inspired the idea for them.

Jones said Specter, who also volunteers with the coalition, is drawing attention to an important issue that affects not only the ocean but also local lakes, rivers and streams.

Overall, the presence of microplastics and even macroplastics is becoming increasingly common in our communities. Jones said people are starting to think about what they consume and whether they can choose to buy things without plastic. But there are still many things made from plastic, especially single-use plastic.

To turn trash into art, Spector cuts plastic bags into strips and then crochets them, a skill he learned from his mother years ago. He crocheted the outer structure and then filled the shape with recycled clothing and plastic bags. Each sculpture takes two to four months to create, depending on its size and complexity.

The biggest takeaway from the Spectors’ year-long experiment in collecting plastic is that plastic is everywhere, from the plastic sleeves inside cereal boxes to the plastic lids on milk cartons. He said he now has a better understanding of the issue.

Even if you wanted to avoid buying things that contain plastic, Spector said, it’s impossible. Even as we realize this, it makes me acutely aware of how much plastic we accumulate.

Trash Patch babies will be available for adoption at the fundraiser. Resettlement costs are at least $200 per person and are tax deductible. The Dandelion Tea House is also donating the use of its space so that all proceeds will go to the Watershed Alliance for conservation and cleanup activities. Since signing his sculptures is a bit difficult, Specter will sign an adoption certificate for each sculpture that is relocated.

Norbert the narwhal, Scrappy the octopus and Patch the sea turtle will also be on display Tuesday during the Watershed Alliance film event at the Main Library in downtown Vancouver.

Tickets to the fundraiser are $10, which covers the cost of materials. To register, visit thewatershedalliance.org and click on the event page.