Flow of the Pacific I

This piece brings in pink to show the relationship between our bodies and the ocean — water is our lifeblood, and pink is the metaphor for that connection. Wave patterns in shades of blue and grey are set against a blue patterned background, with a prominent pink wave outlined in red.

Most of our planet is water. Most of our bodies are water. I have lived near the Pacific my entire life, and only recently have I begun to truly reckon with what that means. The Pacific is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth, a living organism whose cold, nutrient-rich waters sustain giant kelp forests and serve as a migration corridor for whales, sea turtles, and seabirds. That system is now under acute threat from warming temperatures, marine heatwaves, and acidification. I made this series to honor the Pacific not as an abstract body of water, but as a character, one that has shaped my life and that I am now shaping my work around.