In a challenge launched as part of the government’s Eco-active initiative, which aims to promote green projects, Islanders aged 11 to 18 were asked to produce creative pieces of work reflecting how they felt about the environment, climate change and biodiversity.
The top designers and poets include overall winner Jasmine Furness, who created a wearable piece of art illustrating the awareness of rising sea temperatures and the effect and cause of coral bleaching.
The judges included Environment Minister John Young, artist Ian Rolls, photographer Matt Porteous and poet Traci O’Dea. Each of the winners commented on the ideas behind their designs.
Overall winner
Jasmine Furness (18)
‘This is a creative wearable art piece illustrating the awareness of rising sea temperatures and the effect and cause of coral bleaching. After watching the documentary Chasing Coral I became interested in this idea of addressing this issue in my work, creating a visual and conceptual impact.
‘Mimicking coral structures and studying the decline in fading colours was illustrated in this sculptural, voluminous piece. Furthermore, the pattern cut is called subtraction method, where you use all the fabric to create a sculptural garment and reduce waste.’
Category 1
Winner: Molly McGinnety (12)
‘I designed this dress for my eco challenge entry to raise awareness of recycling and reusing fashion. We buy far too much, things that we don’t even need. You should buy what you need and when you need it! You should recycle your clothes, reuse them, donate them to charity or make something new with them. We should
stop buying because our world is dying.
Commendation: Nina Blacharska (12)
– Plémont Puffin
‘I have made a 3D sculpture of an Atlantic puffin. I have been lucky to see some in sea off Plémont. But they are threatened with rising sea level and sea rubbish. I used real sea rubbish I collected in my sculpture.’
Category 2
Winner: Mariella Gouveia (15)
– Mother Earth
‘My poem is about the beauty of nature and how we have destroyed it so quickly . However, if we work together we can still save it.’
Commendation: Henry Humpleby (14)
– What have we learnt?
‘I’ve written a poem about Covid-19’s impact on Jersey nature and its wildlife.’
Commendation: Yasmin Forbes (13)
– Eco Wish List
‘My poem is a poem based on the environmental problems our planet faces every day, it is also about what I would really like to see happen to the environment in order to improve its current state.’
Category 3
Winner: Matthew Brown (16)
– Freedom Tree 2072
‘It is called Freedom Tree 2072, due to the rapidly increasing changing climate. I created an exaggeration of the future if rising heat is ignored. It is based on the Freedom Tree in town; my image is in the middle of a forest fire.’
Commendation: Beth Cooper, Tia Quinn, Cara Williams (17) – Coffee Dress
‘This is a dress is made from an old coffee sack and rag-rugged with scraps of fabric to add voluminous surface texture. We wanted to highlight the awareness of Fairtrade and Food Miles. We wanted to encourage those to think about buying local, plus using repurposed and natural materials.’
Commendation: Naomi Balderson (16)
– Deforestation Dress
‘This is a dress that I made by rust-dying, and I dyed pieces of old fabric by dipping them in vinegar and wrapped them around rusted poles. I wanted to create a ruffled, authentic look to represent deforestation and the damage it causes to ecosystems and endangered species. I love the colour scheme and the neutrals in contrast with the unsystematic ruffles, to show the frenzied way we consume things without knowing their origins or who made them.’
