Paddle Against Plastic Pollution by Kim Bernard 

Artist’s Bio

Kim Bernard creates sculpture that is recycled, kinetic, interactive, public and involves the community. She creates installations upcycled out of trash and is currently focusing on transforming plastic waste into sculpture using her portable recycling machines. She shows her work nationally and has been invited to participate in many exhibits, some of which include the Portland Museum of Art, Currier Museum of Art, Fuller Craft Museum, Harvard University, Art Complex Museum and UNH Museum of Art. Her work has been reviewed in the Boston Globe, Art News and Art New England. Bernard is the recipient of the Artist Advancement Grant, Kindling Fund Grant, NEFA grant, 6 Maine Arts Commission Grants as well as funding from the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation. She was an artist-in-residence in the Physics Department at Harvard University and at the University of New England. She received her BFA from Parsons in 1987 and her MFA from Mass Art in 2010. Bernard teaches at the Maine College of Art, Colby College and regionally as a visiting artist.

Artist’s Statement

This is a magic paddle. Like a magnet, when you row, it picks up plastic trash from the water and turns it into art. Since plastic debris is currently the most abundant type of litter in the ocean, making up 80% of all marine debris, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to transform micro-plastic and macro-plastic into art. So, make use of your magic paddle and share it with your friends. Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and row, row, row!