JESSICA ANGELA O'NEILL

Part of Calamities: Plastic & Fauna, this series traces the marine food web of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) in the waters surrounding Brighton, UK.

Delicate cyanotypes of marine fauna are juxtaposed with shrink-wrapped analogue self-portraits, creating an uneasy dialogue between beauty, suffocation and human intervention.

Following the passage of microplastics through interconnected marine life, the work reveals a cycle of contamination in which humanity becomes both perpetrator and potential victim of its own synthetic legacy.

Hippocampel Amnesia

Seahorse from the series, Calamities- Plastic & Fauna (2021- ongoing)

Medium: cyanotype on handmade RAG paper

Dimension: 21 x 29.7 cm

About the work:

From the Greek hippokampos; “sea horse”, also the origin of hippocampus, the region of the human brain associated with memory.

Part of Calamities: Plastic & Fauna, this series traces the marine food web of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) in the waters surrounding Brighton, UK.

Delicate cyanotypes of marine fauna are juxtaposed with shrink-wrapped analogue self-portraits, creating an uneasy dialogue between beauty, suffocation and human intervention.

Hippocampal Amnesia draws upon the dual meaning of the hippocampus to explore humanity's collective ecological forgetfulness. Following the passage of microplastics through interconnected marine life, the work considers the fragility of ecological memory and the paradox of humanity becoming both perpetrator and potential victim of its own synthetic legacy.

The Common Denominator

Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris), from Calamities: Plastic & Fauna (2021- ongoing)

Medium: cyanotype on handmade RAG paper

Dimension: 21 x 29.7 cm

About the work:

From the Latin vulgaris; “common” or “ordinary”, the species name of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris).

Part of Calamities: Plastic & Fauna, this series traces the marine food web of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) in the waters surrounding Brighton, UK.

Delicate cyanotypes of marine fauna are juxtaposed with shrink-wrapped analogue self-portraits, creating an uneasy dialogue between beauty, suffocation and human intervention.

The Common Denominator positions the octopus at the conceptual convergence of an interconnected marine food web. Through the passage of microplastics between organisms, the work examines the permeable boundaries between predator and prey, nature and synthetic matter. The octopus becomes a symbol of ecological interdependence, foreshadowing humanity's own entanglement in the consequences of its consumption.