Interview: Katharine Owens

Kat Owens is a National Geographic Explorer, a Fulbright Nehru fellow, a researcher, and an artist. She is unique for her interdisciplinary approach—she believes that to address big, complex, scientific problems we need more than scientists—we need scientists, policymakers, activists, and artists to collaborate and share information with a broad audience. The ongoing Entangled and Ingested project allows her to share information about plastic pollution with thousands of people each year.

Dr. Owens participated in the Under the Sea Virtual Exhibition. The panel of judges chose her piece Stellar Sea Lion as the best piece for “A call to action that inspires.”

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your name and what do you do.

My name is Kat Owens. I’m a plastic pollution researcher and artist. I work at a small, teaching-focused University in Connecticut in the United States called the University of Hartford. My past research has focused on training communities to use scientific methods to collect debris, and then report the results to policymakers. My art is closely connected to my research and focuses on portraits of animals harmed by plastic pollution. 

How does the ocean specifically inspire your creativity?

I’m in awe of the Ocean. I think because it is such a vast resource, it is easy to take it for granted. It is hard to imagine its size and the impact it has on our world– and at the same time, it’s so important to our lives to keep it safe and protected. 

Sperm Whale

What drew you to the intersection of art and science, particularly in your ocean-themed art?

My first college degree was in Studio Art, and later I completed majors in social science (Anthropology) and science (Biology) before continuing on through a Master’s and PhD in environmental policy. The arts have always been important to my thinking and my work, but only as I became more advanced in my field did I feel it was possible to integrate arts practices more into my professional life as a researcher and scientist. I believe the distinctions we make between “artist” and “scientist” are arbitrary in some ways. I get a lot of inspiration from researchers like Chappell and Muglia (2023) who emphasize how both artists and researchers use observational skills to better understand their worlds. They believe we should ”expand[ ] practices considered to be science and refram[e] art as a central dimension of scientific work” (p.1). In the same vein, Jung et al. (2022) find that what they call Art/Science has the power to “envision[ ] previously unimagined possibilities, and establish[ ] and strengthen[ ] relationships with diverse stakeholders through long-term mission-driven or place-based inquiry” (p.1). All of this to say– I think art and science go together. They are a natural fit, they complement each other, and they are a powerful tool to help us understand and advocate for important resources like the Ocean. 

What role does research play in your artistic process?

My Entangled and Ingested project is based on a book chapter written by a researcher named David Laist in 1997. It’s the first accounting of all the species with records of entanglement, ingestion, or both from what was then called marine debris.  I have created life-sized portraits of 46 of the 267 species he names in the chapter. The 46 I selected are those with records of both entanglement and ingestion way back in 1997. My second series, which I’m currently working through, is based on an update of this research by Susanne Kühn, Elisa L. Bravo Rebolledo, and Jan A. van Franeker in 2015 and lists 557 species, an additional 73 with records of entanglement and ingestion. 

But it is not just that the selected portraits are based on the scientific literature, I’m also hoping to draw attention to the way we frame the problem of plastic pollution. It is common in the literature to see references to the ‘worst polluting’ countries or the ‘dirtiest’ rivers… and scientists are almost always referring to the global south, particularly South Asia and Southeast Asia. I think that gives the impression that the global north has ‘figured out’ the problem of plastic pollution. Instead, I think we’re better at hiding the problem. I hope my work shows how people like me– a mom in the US– experience plastic waste and packaging. It is inescapable. We haven’t solved this problem at all, and in fact plastic manufacturers are increasing the production of single-use plastics. I hope by connecting the animals that are harmed with the brands on packaging, I can get people to think about this issue in a new way. 

White-faced Storm Petrel

White-chinned Petrel

What materials do you like to use to create your artwork?

I use film plastic, which I define as the kind of thin, malleable plastic that is used frequently in packaging. In my research, I frequently conduct cleanups– but this isn’t the material I find in cleanups. That is too dirty and is often already decomposing.  Instead, this is the kind of plastic that is often marked as if it is recyclable in the US, but it is not. My process is to hand sew this plastic onto canvas to create portraits. I make the small ones myself, but the larger ones like whales in public art workshops. 

Your art might spark curiosity in viewers about both art and the ocean. How do you hope your audience engages with your work?

I hope it gets the viewer thinking about the relationship between plastic and the ocean, but also about how we as consumers are a part of that relationship. I also hope it sparks viewers to demand changes in policy and encourages them to contact companies and ask them to do better. 

The Orca

Collaboration between artists and scientists is becoming increasingly common. Have you collaborated with scientists or researchers before? If so, could you tell us about one of those collaborations? If not, is this something that might interest you, and why?

Great question– art/science collaborations are becoming more common– and I’m so glad to see it. I’m a little bit of a funny case, because I’m both a researcher and an artist. I frequently collaborate with researchers around the world, but I have not participated in collaborations with scientists where I wear the hat of ‘artist.’ I am working with some folks to apply for funding now where that would be the case.

I would be interested in that kind of collaboration because I think there is so much to be gained from pushing the boundaries between science and art. I have a lot of regard for artists who collaborate with scientists because I can imagine that it takes a lot of skill to help realize a vision together. I think truly interdisciplinary collaborations would be amazing to be a part of. 

Lastly, what advice would you give to aspiring artists who are interested in incorporating scientific themes into their work, particularly related to the ocean?

I would encourage any artist who wants to lean into scientific themes in their work to do so. We have so many resources these days that can allow us to explore ideas and learn deeply about anything that interests us. I think it is exciting to imagine artists using that kind of information to fuel their art. The possibilities are endless and you never know how your work might inspire others to care for important resources like the world’s oceans. 

The Bowhead Whale

If you could be any ocean creature, what would you be and why?

This is probably the hardest question in the interview! How do I pick just one? I am torn between the two extremes– being a phytoplankton or algae so I could make my way through the food web, or being a humpback whale and swimming in the moonlight. I think anyone who loves the ocean knows everything in it is interconnected and every creature there is important and amazing. But I still want to pick them all.