We live in a world of waste. Every year, we throw away an estimated 2.12 billion tonnes of trash. That’s enough to wrap around the Earth 24 times. With this pernicious grip tightening by the day, artist Hye Sea decided to tackle the crisis creatively. Searching high and low for a solution, her gaze finally settled on a limitless source of light and life – the sun.
Even as a child, Sea was always drawn to the artful power of mother nature. She would spend hours outdoors igniting scraps of wood and dead leaves with a magnifying glass. Carrying this fascination into adulthood, she began experimenting with natural resources, painting with palm leaves, beetroots, and carrots. “We are so used to consuming instead of reducing, reusing and repurposing what we already have,” she says. Sea soon discovered solar engraving, a zero-waste art form that uses a magnifying glass to etch strokes of sunlight into reclaimed wood.
Today, Sea is a trailblazer of solar portraiture and her work is recognised worldwide. Using the sun as paint, she creates impressions of snow-capped mountain peaks and striking wildlife. Her avant garde engravings aim to reframe the world in a new light, while speaking to an innate relationship with the environment. “I hope my art is not only beautiful but inspires people to embody a waste-free life,” Sea says.
Valuing sustainability above all else, Sea has sparked a much-needed dialogue in the creative community and beyond, encouraging people to think of earth-friendly ways to live and thrive in society. “By learning how to connect with our planet, I discovered true passion,” she says.
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