Embellished Coral Sculptures Promote Ocean Conservation with a Textile Twist

January 28, 2019

Written by Sara Barnes

Photo by Fred Margueron

Like many of us, artist Aude Bourgine is concerned about the adverse effects of global warming. Knowing that it’s on us to raise awareness and ultimately alter our behavior, she uses her work as a vehicle for change.

Aude focuses on the ocean and crafts colorful coral sculptures using materials that include yarn, sequins, and beads. The collection has culminated in a series called Poumons des océans (“Lungs of the Oceans”), which highlights both the organisms’ beauty and more importantly, their fragility. It’s the latter that Aude hopes you will take from her work. “If we do not rapidly change our relationship with our environment, oceans will be dead by 2050,” she writes. “Their disappearance will entail a disastrous imbalance on all ecological, climate and human levels.” (h/t My Modern Met)