MustHaves Special Advertising Section
dragonflies
4106 Oleander Drive, 910-796-9997
Scout
weekender zip-top carry on
25” w x 15” h x 13” d
$52
S’well hot pink
reusable water bottle
17 ounce, $35
Spartina 449
kaftan cover up,
paisley navy, $88
Polka Dot Palm
8262 Market Street,
910-319-7400,
www.polkadotpalm.com
Acrylic outdoor
drinkware,
floats or stand in the
sand, $12 each
trending
A trio of unconventional artists work
A
ALEXANDRA MORSE
Wilmington native Alexandra Morse grew up sailing and
surfing around Wrightsville Beach. She enjoyed making art
from a young age, but didn’t pursue an art career in earnest
until she began scuba diving in her 20s.
She was inspired by what she saw under the waves. Morse
wanted to recreate the beauty, and draw attention to the ugly.
Much of Morse’s work engages a major threat to the safety
of ocean life: excess plastic litter. She creates paintings of sea
creatures and underwater environments using combinations
of plastic, acrylics, papier-mâché and glow-in-the-dark paints
that mimic the bioluminescence of many marine creatures.
Once the lights are turned off, the glowing paint that com-pletes
the piece simultaneously imbues the image with a
positive, welcoming mood and highlights the prevalence of
unrecyclable plastic.
Works like “Squid” and “Sasso Turtle” feature three-dimen-sional
sea creatures that give the paintings a sculptural feel.
This creates a high contrast between the whimsically colored
and joyfully rendered creatures and the scavenged plastic that
undergirds the composition.
“I hope viewers see my paintings and feel a love for our
ocean,” Morse says. “Then, looking deeper into the depths of the
paint and seeing the plastic, start to think about consumerism
and how much we throw away and how we throw it away. I
hope they are delightfully surprised when seeing the glow ele-ment
that, even in the dark, there is light in the ocean.”
24
WBM july 2017
with joy and purpose
New Styles
in Paint
by KATHRYN MANIS
RTISTS FROM PICASSO to Jasper Johns have his-torically
experimented with the possibili-ties
of paint and canvas, pushing the limits
of conventional practice. Today, increased
access to materials and information, and a
greater appreciation for diverse creative modes, grant paint-ers
more freedom. Three artists with roots in the Wilmington
area are among those expanding the medium forward and
outward with their vibrant and eye-catching work.