CONCEPT: Resonance

Environmental destruction is getting worst day by day. I am expressing my despair and making a statement of the current culture through artmaking. I want to lead a freestyle attitude and bring a renewed culture storm to the plastic art sculpture. I walk across the beach, hoping bins and stopping by hidden spots that were meant to be nature. As vegetation makes its way between the dramatic scenery, there are loads of valuable materials. Collecting trash is one of the most challenging chapters as recycling is time-consuming. Since 2019, I have started to collect scrap materials, especially plastic. Leaving plastic behind has a devastating effect on our planet and our health. Plastic pollution causes harm to humans, animals and plants through toxic pollutants. It can take hundreds or even thousands of years for plastic to break down so the environmental damage is long-lasting. It affects all organisms in the food chain from tiny species like plankton through to whales. My art raises awareness of this event while trying to keep alive the idea of how the flora and fauna of Mauritius used to be. So, the aim of my work is to create consciousness about the effect of plastic pollution on the flora and fauna of Mauritius and question modern consumer society and the way we blindly use and discard objects. Thus, I decided to transform the scrap materials (plastic) into remarkable beauty and useful objects.

As an educator, it was really difficult for me to adapt myself to the school where I have worked as my subject is not given much importance. Working in such an environment was discouraging for me. However, this module taught me that the arts are critical to developing skills in my young learners. It made me realize that art and design is as important as any other subject as it contributes equally to the development of students motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making skills and risk-taking skills.

It also helped me to transform my practice to include the holistic development of students and bring innovative and creative approaches to my teaching to develop my identity as an educator in the 21st century. It has taught me to make use of innovative tools such as technology in the classroom.

Moreover, it taught me to bring creative approaches to my teaching and learning. For instance, I used all the experience and skills I acquired during this module to develop new techniques and concepts. It makes me gain more confidence in myself and as a result, I served as a model to my students and take my own works as a reference in the classroom.

After embarking on this module and with all the exposure that I had during this visual art didactics module, there has been a positive transformation in my practice and I was able to develop my identity as an educator.