Tea bag crochet coral forms

Over the last little while (in between commissions and studio time) I have been crocheting a small collection of tea bag coral forms for my contribution to the Sunshine Coast Satellite Reef project and I am excited to be attending the official exhibition opening today!

Representatives from the Caloundra Regional Gallery, in particular Julie Hauritz launched the project at World Environment Day 5 June 2014 - I also volunteered on the day and since its launch hundreds of entries have flooded in from all over around Australia contributing to the installation.

Below in the first two photographs show a sneak peak of my humble contribution. It is a small offering due to the lengthy process involved with the making - its hard to see the hundreds of tea bags that went into them. It was fun making them however the nature of the material presented me with a few challenges along the way.

And then another little teaser, the latter two photographs show a snippet of the display in the gallery, which, is complemented by large sculptural sea birds and sea creatures by artist Tony Rice (see large suspended sea turtle) with underwater coral photography of local reefs - the exhibition runs until 28 June.

The Sunshine Coast Satellite Reef is part of the worldwide Crochet Coral Reef Project created by the Institute for Figuring and directors Christine and Margaret Wertheim. The Crochet Coral Reef is a response to the devastation of living reefs due to global warming and ocean acidification while celebrating the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft.