ARTIST STATEMENT
Ethan Estess (b. 1989) is a California-based artist working internationally to raise awareness of ocean issues. Growing up surfing, traveling, and shaping surfboards he developed a deep commitment to understanding and stewarding the ocean from an early age. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s from an interdisciplinary environmental science program at Stanford (2012) where he studied marine science while learning to express himself through sculpture. He balanced his study of ecology and oceanography with coursework in mechanical engineering and studio art.
His artwork is typically made from reclaimed or found materials such as fishing rope. He is inspired by the biodiversity of life on Earth, found objects, motion, and the interactions between the “human” and “natural” worlds.
He has shown in public and private collections between the US, Japan, and Europe including the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Hawaii and the Anderson Collection at Stanford University.
Estess lives and works out of his studio in Santa Cruz, CA with his wife and two children. He seeks to balance his love for family and surfing with his unrelenting compulsion to create artwork and contribute to the global conversation around ocean sustainability.
"If there is one thing that I have learned by studying the ocean, it is that it is greatly imperiled; it is treated both as humanity’s waste bin and its fast food joint. We simply dump too many pollutants into it while extracting too many organisms and resources out of it. My life’s intention is to help protect the marine environment, and I have found that for me, the best avenue through which to do this is sculpture."
As a result, most of his works tell stories about environmental science topics, from marine plastic pollution to tuna conservation. His focus is on appealing to the basic emotions of the viewer so they can understand the scientific concepts at play and internalize the gravity of humanity’s impact on the global ecosystem.
His artwork is typically made from reclaimed or found materials such as fishing rope. He is inspired by the biodiversity of life on Earth, found objects, motion, and the interactions between the “human” and “natural” worlds.
He has shown in public and private collections between the US, Japan, and Europe including the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Hawaii and the Anderson Collection at Stanford University.
Estess lives and works out of his studio in Santa Cruz, CA with his wife and two children. He seeks to balance his love for family and surfing with his unrelenting compulsion to create artwork and contribute to the global conversation around ocean sustainability.
"If there is one thing that I have learned by studying the ocean, it is that it is greatly imperiled; it is treated both as humanity’s waste bin and its fast food joint. We simply dump too many pollutants into it while extracting too many organisms and resources out of it. My life’s intention is to help protect the marine environment, and I have found that for me, the best avenue through which to do this is sculpture."
As a result, most of his works tell stories about environmental science topics, from marine plastic pollution to tuna conservation. His focus is on appealing to the basic emotions of the viewer so they can understand the scientific concepts at play and internalize the gravity of humanity’s impact on the global ecosystem.