Featured Contributor:Marina Deb Ris

Marina Deb Ris has been picking up trash along Westside beaches and creeks for over a dozen years. Her mission began when she moved from Bondi Beach, Australia to LA’s Westside. “In the beginning I would just pick up stacks of Styrofoam cups and bring them to the local 7-11, but I soon realized that this wasn’t really attacking the root problem. I needed a creative way to draw attention to it. The whole idea of making beach detritus into art started just over two years ago from the realization that the waste we create always comes back to haunt us."

Her work has been regularly on display in juried shows in the Los Angeles area and often lends her artistic talents to Sustainable Works, Heal the Bay, Friends of Ballona, Surfriders and other environmental organizations.

Trained as a graphic designer at the Rhode Island School of Design, Marina’s interest in the intersection of art and the environment has been a constant. “My first goal is to provoke viewers into thinking about the consequences of our habits, and how we can change them. My second goal is to get rid of all the garbage in my garage! In a responsible way, of course.”
Marina Deb Ris' website: http://www.washedup.us/