Artist Statement

“Alby Mangle”

 an Artist statement by samone anderson

The creation of Alby Mangle is the story of the Royal albatross expressed through my art. It is my way of saying that as a society we need to be more thoughtful of how we dispose and create waste.  As I formed Alby Mangle I felt connected to the albatross and the need for plastics to be recycled in better ways.  I looked at hundreds of photos of live albatross to develop a visual knowledge of their specific features.  I looked at video and film clips created by Chris Jordan of dead marine birds with bellies absolutely choked up with plastic.  This is where the idea for his plastic jewelled belly came from.

The plastic within his belly are items that I collected within under 5 minutes from bottle tops, toothpaste, glue, pen lids, key tags, rubbers, razors, jewellery, pegs and other household items.  When beginning this creation, I pencilled the albatross form.  I sketched from real life photographs to understand elements of his features and how to best portray them. I did this because I am not a natural painter but I had a vision to use canvas and create a piece using a mixture of mediums. It was important for me to show the royal albatross in a simple yet graceful form. His length is about the span of one of the wings of an adult Royal albatross.  Transportation of this piece is another important feature to its design.  Originally the vision was to create him life-like but at 3 1/2 metres I would not have been able to transport Alby Mangle to the exhibition.

The elements used in the design of this piece are canvas, plastics, beads, white modelling clay, acrylic and oil based paints. Alby Mangle is a combination of textures, brush strokes, with thick uneven lines and shading.  To create contrast I used heavy and thick strokes of black paint around the outline of the albatross.  These thick strokes then curve softly around the shape of the birds body and the negative space, giving an illusion of movement. Using only black and canvas on his wings I worked with shading to produce likeness in the feathers and the tips.  For his body and head, I had envisioned using real feathers but then through the process realised that I could create a likeness of feathers by using modelling clay and small curved brush strokes. The focal point of this piece is to highlight the plastics that these massive birds ingest.  The colours of the materials are so vibrant; it is easy to see how plastics are considered to be delicious morsels of food by the Albatross.  My idea was that I wanted to create a discussion involving Chris Jordan and his work on our environmental impact.  Yet at the same time I wanted to create a piece of beauty.  This was in juxtaposition to Chris Jordan’s photographic work of the albatross.  In Midway the photographs of hundreds of dead albatross are confronting and ugly in their reality. The rotting carcass and the masses of plastic leave a bleak feeling in your heart.  For my art piece I wanted to display the essence of how attractive plastics can appear to animals.  I was looking to highlight the colours and the intensity of plastic that these gracious birds mistake for fish, octopus and other marine life.  Imagine just how happy the royal albatross are, as they look at what they believe to be a mass of available food.  This was the feeling I was looking to express.

INFLUENCES:  At the beginning, I was influenced by the concept of using trash and recycled materials to create art.  Then whilst researching I came across environmental artist John Dahlsen who recycles materials that he found littered on beaches to create art pieces.  Finally when I found Chris Jordan’s work and the environmental message he shared through his art, I wanted to join his discussion.  His work inspired me to discuss the issue of the way rubbish is affecting the oceans and all of the animals that live within it.