Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

Angela Haseltine Pozzi (born 1957) is an American sculptor who uses recycled ocean plastic to create her work. She is also the founder and creative director of Washed Ashore. Her large-scale sculptures include a polar bear, puffin, jellyfish, and an octopus.

Early life and education

Angela Haseltine Pozzi was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, in 1957. Pozzi was born into an artistic family and spent much of her early life on the shores of the Oregon coast. She attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

earning a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in education in 1984. In 1990, she received her Master's in Education from Portland State University, with an emphasis in Art Education.

Career

Pozzi was a teacher for 30 years. After the sudden death of her husband in 2002 she turned to the ocean for healing. After seeing the detriment of

plastic pollution Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...

along the Oregon coast, she soon realized the ocean also needed healing. She researched the impact of plastic on marine life and in 2012 she founded the Washed Ashore Project. With plastic debris collected from the beaches bordering

Bandon, Oregon Bandon () is a city in Coos County, Oregon, Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River (Oregon), Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Republic of Ireland, Irish peer, who settled nearby i ...

, she constructs large sculptures of marine life. With the help of over 10,000 volunteers the organization has collected upwards of 40,000 pounds of waste and created 70 sculptures.

Style

Pozzi creates colorful sculptures from everyday waste items such as bottles and bags. Her large-scale sculptures include a polar bear, puffin, jellyfish, and an octopus. She personifies her sculptures by giving them human names, for example her sculpture titled ''Edward the Leatherback Sea Turtle''. Pozzi uses her work to educate the viewer on conservation and tries to engage them to think about the impacts of plastic use on marine environments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozzi, Angela Haseltine 1957 births Living people 21st-century American women sculptors 21st-century American sculptors Sculptors from Oregon Artists from Portland, Oregon Portland State University alumni University of Utah alumni