Troubled

I started my artistic research by working on plastic pollution and investigating different aspects of this issue, and for me, nowness is an important factor in my practice. Recently just as the world started to change the habit of using single-use plastics and find replacements for this material, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and new forms of plastic waste are now added to the previous ones. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is necessary for surviving. But, I find it ironic that we avoid one problem (the COVID19 pandemic) by creating another problem: using an excessive amount of plastic and abandoning them in nature. Perhaps the next pandemic that we are going to experience would be Plastic Pandemic.

“Troubled” is a frame-by-frame animation. It is made with 240 frames of hand-drawn digital drawings using the rotoscope animation technique. This project is a work in progress as part of my MFA thesis project. It represents an infinite loop reflecting on our troubled age, the age we live in. This self-portrait represents me as an individual who experienced these unprecedented times (just as many other people who lived through this troubled time did) wearing seven layers of masks, metaphorically showing the number of masks we wear during a week. In the beginning, the masks bring a sense of safety and comfort, but as it goes on, they pile up on each other and my face just like when they pile up in the oceans and suffocate the planet.