Sea Glass — Mermaid Tears
Maria Matveeva, settlement, Umba, Murmansk region
Mermaid Tears are small pieces of glass or plastic found in the world's oceans.
When bottles, cups or other debris gets into the water, it often disintegrates, pieces of glass and ceramics crumble over time from the effects of waves and sand, eventually acquiring smooth rounded shapes.
From September 28 to October 1, the project team arrived to Umba with an important mission — to collaborate with local residents and immerse themselves in the ecologically acute issue of household glass on the coast, consider options to reduce the use of glass containers in everyday life, and jointly collect glass pieces on the coast.
When bottles, cups or other debris gets into the water, it often disintegrates, pieces of glass and ceramics crumble over time from the effects of waves and sand, eventually acquiring smooth rounded shapes.
From September 28 to October 1, the project team arrived to Umba with an important mission — to collaborate with local residents and immerse themselves in the ecologically acute issue of household glass on the coast, consider options to reduce the use of glass containers in everyday life, and jointly collect glass pieces on the coast.
The collected glass became the material for various products that were created together with the invited artists: jewelry, decor, mosaics.
The Mermaid Tears project includes not only workshops, but also subsequent online lectures. They will be devoted to creative ways of using collected household glass, as well as the problem of large water pollution with this type of waste.
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"In 2021, during the Terskiy Bereg art residence, our artists Maria Olenina and Tatyana Gladysheva discovered a lot of beautiful, ground glass on the coast. And they thought: why not use it in your work? Then they made several household items out of glass and polymer clay. This time we expanded this topic and showed how you can make large art objects out of such material. We hope they will decorate the facade of the children's library and will shimmer beautifully in the sun! Now we are also thinking about other ways of processing this glass and ways to export it from the Tersk coast."
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The Mermaid Tears project includes not only workshops, but also subsequent online lectures. They will be devoted to creative ways of using collected household glass, as well as the problem of large water pollution with this type of waste.
___________________
"In 2021, during the Terskiy Bereg art residence, our artists Maria Olenina and Tatyana Gladysheva discovered a lot of beautiful, ground glass on the coast. And they thought: why not use it in your work? Then they made several household items out of glass and polymer clay. This time we expanded this topic and showed how you can make large art objects out of such material. We hope they will decorate the facade of the children's library and will shimmer beautifully in the sun! Now we are also thinking about other ways of processing this glass and ways to export it from the Tersk coast."
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