“I believe it is imperative that we each do our bit to contribute to a greener future. Ocean Rise is a project about the climate crisis, sustainable art production and accessibility. It offers solutions for a more sustainable model of art making, recycling plastic waste and turning it into innovative new artworks.” Aphra Shemza.

SPACER Residency

During the project I joined the artist community at SPACER with a free studio space and a number of free mentoring sessions. I purchased three new plastic recycling machines (a shreddar, a sheet press and a T-shirt press) which have scaled up my recycling capabilities to produce new work and workshop content. SPACER and I also published a number of blog posts on their website for their online audience which you will find here.

New Series of Work

My new Ocean Rise series takes the recycling process one step further. Not only am I saving this waste material that would otherwise be destined for the ocean, but I am also creating new artworks that visualise the rising sea levels due to global warming, highlighting the interconnectivity between these different systems.

Ocean Rise I-IV, 2022 make reference to our monolithic sculptures from the past. They are a reimagining of contemporary art, one where our precious resources are considered alongside the scale of the work. The works’ forms are all divisible by 10cm, which is the amount that global sea levels have risen in the last 30 years according to Nasa’s climate website. The pieces highlight this measurement by showing it physically thus helping to make the climate data tangible for the audience. 

The works are made using recycled LDPE sheets that I have created from waste packaging and coloured plastic bags using my new techniques. They are illuminated to highlight the connectivity between the ocean, climate and cycles of the sun.

Ocean Rise V also visualises the global rise in sea levels by displaying the graph line from Nasa’s climate website for sea level rise in the last 15 years. The animation of the light moves across the work like the ebb and flow of the tide up and down the artwork creating a meditative effect on the viewer. The work itself is made from recycled LDPE created using a marbling technique that allows me to make surfaces that look like water, serving to connect plastic pollution to the ocean.

Accessible Workshops

I have devised a new method for recycling plastic waste on a portable T-shirt press for my accessible workshops and created lesson plans and content for these aswell. I have secured partners to run the workshops later on this year. We will run an adults “Plastic Recycling Workshop” with SPACER in April and a second “Plastic Recycling Workshop” for adults with learning difficulties for East Kent Mencap in June/July.

I will also be running a new project called “Sustainable Geometry” with the charity MKIAC in Milton Keynes. In this project I will be running plastic recycling workshops with children at a local school. The children will create recycled plastic panels, which will be cut into geometric shapes and combined to create a new interactive light art work. The work will be exhibited at the library as part of the MKIAC light festival in October this year.

Radical Ecology: Media Art and the Environment

23rd November 2021

Curated by Aphra Shemza in collaboration with National Gallery X and Art in Flux. Featuring the work of Francis Disley, Sarah Craske and Ben Eaton.

To launch this project I curated Radical Ecology - an event for the National Gallery X. In the aftermath of the COP26 climate summit and the global demonstrations that call for immediate action to prevent catastrophic global warming, Radical Ecology looked to art as a forum where future possibilities can be imagined and provided a discursive setting to explore these subjects in a media art context. Using the National Gallery’s collection as a starting point, we investigated the environment and landscape as a source of artistic inspiration and contemplation. Radical Ecology invited Ben Eaton, Sarah Craske and Frances Disley to explore climate change, ecology, sustainable practice and conservation within relation to their work.

View more info on the Art in Flux website here.

Peer Events

“I really appreciate Aphra’s depth of knowledge and experience. This lecture has given me more resources and confidence to make my practice more sustainable and to ask for more sustainable materials at an institutional level.” Student MA Art and Science lecture.

I hosted three online peer events for other artists who wanted to discuss how they could be more mindful of their environmental impact. On the 16th November 2021 I held a free Sustainable Art Practice lecture for the Goldsmiths MA Computational Arts students and on the 24th November 2021 I held the same lecture for MA Art and Science students from Central Saint Martins. On the 1st December 2021 I hosted the Art in Flux Social: Sustainable Media Art which was attended by a number artists working with technology.

Publishing

I have written number of articles that were published through my partners to share with their networks. Artquest published my article Sustainable Art Practice on their website. Julie’s Bicycle published an in depth case study called “Aphra Shemza: A case study for sustainable practice” about this project on their website. I also prepared the content for The Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA) to publish a report on my plastic recycling process. The report will inaugurate a series of in-depth profiles on notable and sustainable practices, each focused on an artist pushing this field forward. This report will be published on Earth Day to their global network - 22nd April 2022.

Ocean Rise: A Talk with Aphra Shemza

In collaboration with SPACER & Art in Flux

“Aphra's enthusiasm and confidence is contagious. I like her collaborative approach, and that the process of creation of the artworks is as important as the end product.” Attendee to the event.

In the final part of my project, I hosted an online talk and studio tour to share what I have learned throughout the project and look for future partners.