Chinese artist turns islands’ plastic marine waste, from flip-flops to sex dolls, into art

Fu Junsheng collects plastic that washes up on China’s Miaodao islands and turns it into art that highlights the problem of marine pollution

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Artist Fu Junsheng at his studio in the Miaodao archipelago off Yantai, in eastern China’s Shandong province. Fu collects plastic that washes up on its beaches and turns it into work that highlights the issue of marine pollution. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:15pm, 30 Nov 2024Updated: 8:33am, 1 Dec 2024

As storm clouds gather over a forgotten beach in China’s Miaodao islands, artist Fu Junsheng picks his way through piles of plastic waste washed up along the shoreline, looking for inspiration.

China is the world’s largest plastic producer, and the islands – a niche tourist destination – sit in the cross-stream of several highly developed eastern peninsulas.

Every squall brings fresh waves of floating debris onto the archipelago’s white sand beaches – and, eight years ago, Fu decided to make that waste both his artistic message and medium.

“Our generation has witnessed rapid societal development. In the process, we’ve sometimes neglected nature, and at times, even ignored it altogether,” the 36-year-old says as he shows the contents of his studio, full of pieces created from plastic washed ashore.

Plastic waste and other debris washed ashore in the Miaodao archipelago off eastern China’s Shandong province. Photo: AFP

Artist Fu Junsheng holding a basket of plastic waste including lighters, slippers, children’s toys and cosmetics containers. Photo: AFP

One of the most striking installations features nearly 900 flip-flops, displayed in front of his seascape oil paintings.