#oceanicglobal

Please check out this interview our partners at Oceanic Global conducted with artist Claire Milner.  

Claire Milner, Ocean Rainforest

Claire Milner creates art for environmentalists, conservation organizations, celebrities, large corporations and advertising agencies. Her works have been displayed in institutional and museum exhibitions and are held in private collections around the world, including the crystal portrait of Marilyn Monroe commissioned for Rihanna. Her paintings have been featured by The BBC, BLOUIN ARTINFO, Channel News Asia, Elle, Forbes, HuffPost Arts, The Telegraph, The Times, Vogue. They have been described as “metaphors of our time” in examining the effects of humans on the environment and other species. The main body of her work focuses on threats to the natural world. Miller created artwork “Ocean Rainforest” for Oceanic Global’s Artivism Challenge, in partnership with Alpha’a Inc

What’s your background as an artist, and how would you describe your style?

I have a degree in graphic design and typography, have worked as an illustrator, studied ancient mosaic techniques and eventually combined all of these skills into my own style as an artist. I work in themed collections with art historical references that simultaneously focus on topical issues relating to the environment, our place within it and encroachment upon it. The effects of humanity are implicit within my paintings, even when the human figure is absent or takes a secondary precedence.

Can you tell us a little bit about your work? How did you come up with the concept and how did you bring it to life?

My process involves traditional painting techniques and rigorous mosaic methodologies. It has evolved organically from early illustrations in paper collage, to mosaic, and more recently to paintings incorporating crystal mosaics. In a series of thematic and technical juxtapositions, the work utilizes construction and deconstruction to demonstrate appearance and disappearance. Creatures created from thousands of individual elements represent the last of their species and precious crystal mosaics are undercut by painted backgrounds as a metaphor for abundance and loss. The works confront minute detail and the big picture simultaneously, contrasting the profound and the superficial to accentuate the human capacity for greatness and great harm.

What ignited your mission to raise awareness through your art? Is there a particular moment or realization that inspired you to focus on the relationship between civilization and the natural world?

The subjects I pursue, relate to the personal values I have held all my life, yet now they are universal and reaching a critical tipping point for everyone. Climate change, ocean pollution, environmental degradation, habitat loss and the rapid rate of extinction are all issues that could have devastating implications and also represent some of the largest challenges we face. Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum; artists throughout history have interpreted the critical issues of their time. The international language of art is a means of reaching a wide audience with accessible yet critical messages. I value my many wonderful clients and commissions that enable me to use the privilege of being an artist and the power of art to raise awareness of the significant issues facing our planet, as, without urgent action on these momentous issues, we may not have the luxury to concern ourselves with others.

What’s one of your favorite experiences of your career as an artist and ocean advocate?

Oceans cover the majority of our planet, but little is known about their depths. The life forms surviving in these hostile environments are thought by some to be the beginnings of life on earth. During the International Year of Planet Earth in 2008 designated by IUGS and UNESCO, I conducted extensive research and created a semi-abstract mosaic now owned by BBC broadcaster and Earth Scientist Dr. Iain Stewart. This artwork represents volcanic mid-ocean ridges or hydrothermal vents and life in the ocean depths and the materials used to exemplify those found around ocean vents, such as silver and gold, with text giving factual information and statistics. I was later thrilled to learn that UK scientists had discovered the deepest, previously unknown hydrothermal vents, in the Cayman Trough.

What is your relationship with oceans and the environment? Have these relationship influenced your work?

I have had a strong connection to the ocean since I was a child and still spend part of every year at the coast on or beside the ocean. I am currently working on a huge ocean themed wrap-around artwork where each painting connects with its predecessor, yet also exists individually, representing symbiosis. It begins at the coastal ecosystems and moves into the open seas and the Mariana Trench in the ocean depths. As a lifelong vegetarian and environmentalist I constantly research issues facing the planet and the paintings I create are an interpretation of this research. My latest collection entitled ‘ANTHROPOCENE XTINCTION’ is a reflection of the impact of humans on the planet. These paintings depict a crystal mosaic X on the face of the principal animal, which at once highlights their preciousness, and draws attention to their fate.

What reactions would you like people to have to your work and what message do you want them to take away?

I like to give the viewer something new to discover each time they look at my paintings. To engage people, I want them to have an initial emotional connection to the aesthetic qualities of the work, and from this starting point to be curious about questioning and understanding the more cryptic messages contained within. My work has been described as having many layers of meanings and discoveries to be made on closer inspection. If that incites further research or action on the part of the viewer or collector, then the work is a success.

Please check out this interview our partners at Oceanic Global conducted with artist Kristin Hetterman.  

Kristin Hettermann & Markley Boyer, Eye of Protection

Kristin Hettermann and Markley Boyer created artwork “Eye of Protection” for Oceanic Global’s Artivism Challenge, in partnership with Alpha’a Inc.

Kristin Hettermann is recognized for her underwater and adventure travel photography and awareness efforts surrounding important environmental and social causes. Based between Maui and Manhattan her work and travels have taken her on adventures around the world with a keen eye toward ocean conservation and remote cultures.

Markley Boyer began his career in the digital side of the fashion photography business. He now works on conservation visualization projects. He recently created images of Manhattan island in 1609 as it appeared to the first European settlers.

What ignited your mission to raise awareness through your art? Is there a particular moment or realization that inspired you to focus on the relationship between natural and built environments?

I have been a passionate photographer since high school. I often photographed the ocean from the beach while spending many quiet hours in nature and photographing along the coastlines of South Carolina in my 20’s. When I moved to Hawaii in 2008, the clear warm waters called to me. Gradually, as I became more connected to the sea and what lies beneath its surface photographing underwater became a natural sequence. In 2015, I met my fiancé, Sven Lindblad, who is also an enthusiastic global ocean conservationist and Founder of Lindblad Expeditions and an Ocean Elder. It has been a great blessing to be able to travel the world and access some of the most remote parts of the ocean with him. Through traveling and sharing my experiences, I realized that people were responding to my photography and that through my eye, people were seeing and feeling the ocean in a way that seemed inspiring to them.

Is there anything specific about ocean/water subjects that speak to you as artists?

The ocean is like my favorite poncho -always close, always there to hold me, and wraps itself around my soul by adding warmth and love. I have always found balance by the sea, and as soon as I was making life decisions it was the ocean that always called me home. I am particularly enthralled by the space between. It is like the pause of a breath, the peace of a deep meditation. The ocean is the space between the two worlds. It is the intersection of above and below that seems to always grab my eye.

Can you tell us a little bit about The Eye of Protection? How did you come up with the concept and how did you bring it to life?

I have visited Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park in Baja California Sur Mexico a handful of times in the past few years. It is recognized as one of the top models of a marine protected area in the world, and to experience the story of this small fishing community is to experience the possibilities of what protection can do. I was there in November 2017, and was blown away by how big the schools of jacks and snappers had grown, even from a year prior. This demonstrates how fish stocks can exponentially increase once they surpass a certain threshold. While on this trip and right before the call for entries for the Oceanic Art Basel contest, I had become inspired by the idea of creating mandalas (traditional Hindu designs) from my ocean photographs and wanted to enter a mandala inspired piece in the contest. I needed a collaborator that was well versed in Photoshop and photographic design to bring my vision to life. I made a post on Facebook and a friend, who is an ocean philanthropist herself, recommended Markley. We began to communicate and he took my one dimensional mandala concept to another level bringing my photographs into a computer-generated 3D environment. It was genius!

“Working with Kristin’s beautiful images of schools of fish in Cabo Pulmo, I first blended a few images together and softened the transitions between them to give a sense of the dreamy abundance. I then duplicated and warped the images into a circular shape so it was almost planet-like – a world of fish! That image was brought into 3D modeling software where I created a reflective water surface, disturbed by 3 overlapping ripples. The mathematical precision of the ripple fragments translated the reflected fish images into a mandala-like pattern and the ripples themselves are not visible, only the distortions in the images they reflect. But the human mind understands enough about water and ripples and reflections that those distortions suggest the water,” explained Markley Boyer on how he developed the mandala piece.

How has traveling influenced your work? Throughout your travels have you noticed any specific differences (ex. cultural) between how people engage with your art?

Our access provides opportunities to demonstrate that the ocean is facing the same threats everywhere, even in its most remote parts. Issues such as ocean acidification (global warming/climate change), overfishing, and plastic pollution are prevalent almost everywhere. The idea that it is one world, one ocean has influenced my mission and how I present my artwork.  By showing that the ocean is ever-connected, regardless of where I shoot the image, you often time receive the same feelings.

What reactions would you like people to have to your work and what message do you want them to take away?