Islands of Paradise

The plastic pollution of the oceans is in our minds every day through the news, television and social media. My first idea was to make a quilt representing plastic pollution, and how it threatens even isolated islands in the Pacific and other oceans.

However I felt I needed to construct a more cheerful piece. This quilt tries to portray the feel of the gorgeous islands covered in green tropical vegetation, with beautiful beaches and surrounded by warm waters that are found over the globe in our oceans. That is how they are in my memories of the Seychelles, the only ones I visited.

This is not a portrait of the Seychelles, but it tries to convey the idea of a small archipelago with one major island with small towns, where planes can land, and lots of smaller islands to which visitors are conveyed via small motor boats.

I hope we can persuade people and governments to control plastic pollution of the oceans, or the paradise offered by islands like these will disappear, and marine species will be heavily affected.

Hand-dyed fabrics, fused collage, machine quilting.

Alicia Merrett, Islands of Paradise, 24” by 36”.