Naia Urruty

Naia Urruty Visual Arts IB HL

My passion for protecting the environment inspired me to create art that spreads awareness and saves resources. My underlying theme that reflects throughout my artwork the environment. I explore the issue of pollution and animal extinction.

The desire to recognize problems in the environment and create change started when I first created an environmental club at my school. I spent a lot of time creating flyers for upcoming environmental activities and designing my club’s logo and Instagram posts. This sparked my interest in graphic design and reflected on my artwork that was inspired by the environment. Additionally, a lot of my inspiration came from land art artists such as Robert Smithson and artists that reuse materials such as Brian Enright. Smithson’s use of different elements in nature such as rocks to create art allowed me to see nature’s beauty in the form of art. Additionally, Enright’s ability to transform unwanted materials into an artpiece opened my eyes to see the potential for art and purpose in anything. I used both natural elements and repurposed materials in my art to create pieces that promote environmental justice and the benefits of recycling materials to reduce pollution.

One common recurring pattern that appears in my artwork is a spiral. In my jewelry collection, I choose this particular shape because a spiral continuously repeats, which resembles my theme of the environment because I used repurposed wire to reduce pollution and create art that will forever have a purpose. Jewelry can be worn forever, and when the cycle of that ring ends, it can be shaped to have another purpose, therefore having endless value. This spiral also appears in my land art piece where I arranged different shells that I’ve collected from beaches into the shape of a spiral. My second land art piece is similar to the spiral I made out of shells except now it forms into the shape of a wave. This design of a wave also appears in the mural that I created out of plastic bottle caps.

Each piece in my exhibition carries out the theme of the environment and demonstrates the importance of taking care of the planet. It examines this theme through art that is made from repurposed materials, natural materials found in the environment, and art that demonstrates environmental issues such as plastic pollution. I will display my jewelry on a clay tray that I made myself as well as a hand that I made out of Mod Podge. My intention is that my artwork will interact with the viewer and portray the beauty of Earth and leave an impactful impression on the viewer that will motivate them to protect the planet and take action to reduce their carbon footprint.

This collection of posters was inspired by issues in our world involving climate change. These posters deal specifically with the issue of air and plastic pollution as it brings danger and harm to marine life. I choose to print these posters out large to spread awareness of these issues. I used the digital design app Procreate to create these posters.

My appreciation for nature and the environment inspired me to create art out of leaves and flowers. I used sun-sensitive paper to create the outline of different leaves and flowers. I put different plants on each piece of paper and plan on hanging all six of them next to each other.

This collection was inspired by my passion for protecting the environment. My theme of the environment reflects throughout this collection as I explore the issue of pollution through repurposed jewelry. I used recycled materials to reduce the amount of pollution in the world by transforming them into art. I created a ring out of copper wire which was almost thrown away. I used wire cutters to cut the wires as well as needlenose pliers to shape the wires into a spiral shape. I choose this particular shape because a spiral continuously repeats, which resembles my theme of the environment because I used this wire to reduce pollution and create art that will forever have a purpose. Rings can be worn forever, and when the cycle of that ring ends, it can be shaped to have another purpose, therefore having endless value.

My passion for protecting the environment inspired me to create art that spreads awareness and saves resources. My underlying theme that reflects throughout my artwork is the environment and specifically pollution. This piece is connected to the problem of pollution as I used recycled materials to reduce the amount of pollution in the world by transforming it into art. This collection of rings are all made up of copper wire would have been thrown away if it was not for this project. They consist of different patterns and designs. My decision to repurpose this wire was inspired by Brian Enright, an artist whose work is centered around creating a connection with nature and the community. He creates his pieces out of repurposed materials and gives them a new life in the form of art and his ability to reuse resources and give them a new purpose inspired me to create rings out of repurposed materials to reduce pollution.

These artworks were inspired by Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty. My artwork also connects to the work of Wolfgang Laib as I incorporated elements of nature. My artwork was created out of shells that I’ve collected over the past few years. I collected these shells from Ocean Beach, La Concha Beach, and Baker Beach. These shells were placed in a jar and I wanted to lay them out to give to create the shape of a wave. I displayed these shells in the shape of waves, which are evoked by the natural element of water. I arranged them in the shape of a spiral to show the cycle of life different types of shells from different parts of the ocean are all coming together to create art.

This artwork was assembled from the caps of plastic water bottles, yogurts, different beverages. If it was not for this art project, these plastic caps would have likely ended up in landfills or floating in the sea. The plastic caps are arranged to resemble waves and the background sunsets of a sunset consisting of warm colors such as yellow, orange, red, and pink. The water consists of cool colors such as blue and green as well as white caps to create the illusion of seafoam. This technique of mixing different colors to form a greater image was inspired by the artist Chuck Close. Additionally, my inspiration to create a lifesize piece of art from unwanted items was inspired by Artur Bordalo’s art.

This work consists of a variety of shells that I’ve collected from different beaches. I placed them in different designs and placed them on a circular plastic reflector that I painted white. This work is connected to my theme of the environment as shells are a natural element. I used different combinations of colored shells to make the patterns pop.

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