1 image

by ELAINE CHOI

Seoul International School

OIL Kills

The poster was a visual response to witnessing the changes my neighborhood shores went through after an oil spill in the river next to my apartment. I saw that even after conservative efforts to rectify the oil spill, it left deadly remnants, creeping into the local ecosystem and slowly destroying it. The oil ruined the organisms’ ability to insulate and the water repellency of a bird’s feathers. Also, animals were poisoned by oil particle ingestion.

As we millions of gallons of oil each day travel across the waters, I felt the need to draw attention to the environmental issue of the oil spill, I have created a poster digitally to illustrate the devastating effects of oil spills. To symbolize animals and ecosystems harmed during oil spills, I drew a Grey Heron. To accentuate the harmful effects of the oil spill, I created graphics as if the oil were bursting out of the bird. With the oil, I added statistics for factual evidence to provide a sense of urgency to the issue at hand. In the background, the bird is standing on a black surface. The black surface was created as if the bird was standing on top of an oil spill. The surface grows distant towards the back, illustrating the vast area of the ocean that the oil spill effects. 

To keep birds singing in our shores, we need more foresight and caution in our treatment of the environment.