My expression through "Mermaid Scales & Barnacles" started about a year ago, with my mermaid scale jars.
I think I started from the idea of beautifying a jar with mermaid scales and by the third jar, the idea had evolved into something more than that.
It's about the connection between everything that is.
It's about the effect we have on things, directly and indirectly; whether we know about it, or not.
If you watched my tutorial, you may remember that I wanted this jar (the 3rd one) to feel as if it had fallen in the sea, where barnacles and limpets claimed it as their own and clung onto it. The mermaid scales would have been floating nearby, inevitably getting tangled in the barnacles, thus becoming part of them.
Since then, I've been expanding on this idea (mentally more than physically) and creating pieces of jewellery around this "symbiotic" theme.
I never see any of our actions - as human beings, as small as they may seem - as inconsequential and without repercussions.
Too often, I think of the effects that the products that we use daily (soap, toothpaste, shampoo, etc) have on the environment. It's not enough for me to know that they are safe to put on my face or on my hair. I need to know that they are safe for everything on this planet, that the chemicals in them won't harm them in any possible way.
It's been a long time now since I've swapped to eco-friendly washing up liquid (as soon as they came out basically), clothes detergent and fabric softener (Tesco has very affordable ones). I use shower gel, shampoo and conditioner with as many natural ingredients as possible and that I know to be responsibly sourced.
Not all natural products are GOOD just because they have natural ingredients, in my opinion they are good and worth it when they come from responsible and sustainable sources.
I've made quite a few changes, but I still need to find better alternatives.
My pieces explore and express our connection, our oneness with the world, with the Universe, with all living things; especially the ocean where I personally feel the effects of our actions are more evident than ever.
They also express my belief that humans are not and never will be above nature; they will always be part of it, one with it. So it's very easy to see how everything that is done to the "environment" is done to us. Nature will always claim what we build, what we throw, what we make...it will grind it.
That's why I enjoy to grow barnacles and mermaid scales on cupcakes, doughnuts and now French macaroons!
It's my way to say, everything we do, everntually goes back to her, Gaia.
