Since the concept behind this work came from Clearline Zine’s call-for-art prompt, and wasn’t born from one of my personal musings, I feel like I have less to say on the subject. What interests me most is the deeper meaning behind a gradient.

Visually, I think gradients are stunning and very aesthetically satisfying. Beautifully blended transitions are delicious to look at whether it is a sunset, watercolor painting, to ombre’ hair dye job. In this context this graceful conversion represents a more insidious idea.

Detailed succinctly HERE by someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

This 2019 (Time, am I right?) article shows how our ability to adapt to small changes is not working in our favor. The effects of climate change are typically invisible to the naked eye and are easy to dismiss. Which makes it all the more dangerous. A person would hope endless forest fires would get us all to agree on how to act on this very important issue. But drastic course correction in response to such an ongoing incremental decline seems to be a lot harder than just continuing on with the current trajectory that already has a lot of momentum behind it.

According to my recent googling, popular fabrics like polyester (almost all fast fashion clothing is made from polyester) were invented around the 1930s and are a huge contributor to air and water pollution.

That is only one example, apparently most man made fibers are destroying the environment. (I am literally learning these details now while googling for this blog post) Rayon!? My favorite and most beloved material, apparently could be made sustainably but usually isn’t because it is cheaper and easier to slowly destroy endangered forests?

As a consumer it is so tricky to keep track of all the damage our financial support can do. We are lucky to live in a time where great second hand clothing is easily accessible with Thredup, Poshmark, and of course your local thrift store. This not only slows fast fashion’s income but also keeps clothing out of landfills and microplastics out of our oceans. But fast fashion is still surviving and wreaking havoc on our planet and people’s wardrobes.

(Is is wrong that when I compliment someone on what they are wearing and they respond with, “I got it from amazon,” a part of me dies?)

I am NOT presenting myself as a shining example of a climate change warrior, I struggle to know what to do and how to do it while not breaking the bank. My many attempts at composting have gone horrible and disgustingly awry in the smelliest way. But it is very easy to be complacent while everything slowly changes around you.

When I think of the power of a gradient I think of the ocean. The ocean slowly transforms miles of shoreline one wave at a time. My piece, Erosion, represents that gradual deterioration. Corporate Fashion air pollution is suffocating us, one garment at a time.