Maya Bou-Gharios

Maya Bou-Gharios is a British born artist who works with photography and sculpture. Her work addresses the detrimental impacts that our environment and ourselves are facing due to escalating plastic pollution. Since a young age, she has been fascinated by nature and the planet, especially the creatures that inhabit it. Her work is informed by the constant new data and statistics gathered by scientists on plastic pollution. By basing her work on current research, she intends to bring more awareness to these pressing issues, engage people to inquire further and hopefully then take some action. She takes inspiration from the artworks of Mandy Barker, Brandon Ballengée, Bonita Ely, Andres Serrano, Cai Guo-Qiang, and Emma Witter.

Her most recent works highlight the current issue of the mass utilisation of single-use plastics during the pandemic, by working with plastic PPE. Plastic pandemic related waste has considerably exacerbated the worldwide plastic pollution crisis. She raises awareness of the new adverse effects plastic PPE is having on wildlife and ultimately us. In addition to using actual PPE to visually showcase these issues, she also uses dead animals, such as trout, hake, octopus and pheasant as materials in her work. These have either been used as subjects within photographs or preserved in a sculpture.