Reclaimed Mixed Media Art
by Deborah Sherron Miller
Size: 8" x 8"
Brown Pelican is a sculptural work composed entirely of reclaimed plastic materials—plastic knives forming the body, forks and computer key clips constructing the rock beneath it, and vinyl blind slats shaping its elongated beak. To the left of the figure, mix of plastic waste flows toward and into the bird, creating a visual narrative of accumulation and impact.
The Brown Pelican is often seen as a symbol of resilience along coastal ecosystems, yet it exists in environments increasingly saturated with human debris. By rendering the pelican out of the very materials that threaten its habitat, the piece collapses the boundary between subject and pollutant. The bird is not only surrounded by waste—it is constructed from it, suggesting a future in which wildlife and pollution are inseparably intertwined.
Each material carries its own history of convenience and disposability. Plastic cutlery, designed for brief use, becomes the structural framework of a living form; fragments of everyday objects gather into something both familiar and unsettling. The flowing mass of plastic entering the pelican emphasizes the ongoing, almost invisible movement of waste through natural systems, echoing how pollution travels through waterways and food chains.
