Memento Mary: Ocean Guardian, 2026

Description

Memento Mary: Ocean Guardian explores the tension between creation and destruction, life and mortality, hope and despair. The sculpture brings together the Madonna, the ultimate life-giver, with the skull, a reminder of mortality and the consequences of humanity's destruction of the Earth and its oceans. The title plays on Memento Mori, an ancient reminder of the inevitability of death. Memento Mary, instead, calls us to remember what we have been given, what is fragile, and what we still have the power to protect. It speaks of goodness overcoming evil and healing overcoming despair. Mary, as mother figure and Ocean Guardian, holds the planet tenderly in her arms. A small fish balancing on the globe represents the vulnerability of ocean life. Both warning and prayer, the work acknowledges human destruction while holding hope for restoration, imagining a future where care triumphs over destruction, harmony over imbalance, and life ultimately prevails.