ARTIST STATEMENT
“From The Deepwater Horizon Gift Shop”
Two weeks into the disastrous oil spill caused by the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico photos of animals covered in crude oil had begun to surface.  Daily we were inundated with heart-wrenching photos of dead or near death pelicans, turtles, fish, and dolphins.  Five months since the explosion this story has moved out of the newscycle.  People are already starting to forget.  The fact is the ramifications of such a disaster will be felt for years to come.  The local economy that relied on the Gulf may never bounce back and alarming amounts of poisons have been spread into our oceans to help disperse the oil so it is out of sight, out of mind.  Carcasses of local wildlife will continue to wash ashore and be quickly disposed of.  No one knows how much oil really spilled and no one knows just how many animals were killed (most, likely, sank to the ocean floor).  The saddest part of this whole mess is that it will happen again.  Corporations will continue to drill in places they shouldn’t and will continue to cut corners in the name of cost-cutting.

“From the Deepwater Horizon Gift Shop” is my response to this atrocity.  The feather, turtle, and alligator you see are just toys, but they are also an innocent reminder of what happens when business as usual is allowed to go on unregulated.  These are the souvenirs we will be left with at the end of the day.

BIO
Meghan Quinn is a fine artist best known for her photographic narratives, which occasionally utilize self-portraiture and doll based concepts.  Her work is activist art frequently highlighting civil rights and women’s issues.  Quinn has exhibited all over Southern California, New York City, and Washington, D.C., where she honed her documentary shooting style while growing up on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.  Her work has been highlighted in various art and culture magazines and annuals both national and international. In 2003 Quinn graduated with honors from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Photography.  Quinn lives and works in Los Angeles, CA