"The development of my art and style is a process of never-ending growth, like the cycles of nature I've always been fascinated and inspired by. Growing up in a setting full of summer homes, perfect lawns, and little tourist shops, it made the natural world into a much-desired fantasyland. Every chance I got to spend outdoors became a chance to study and admire the intricacies of all the large and small living things around me. What inspired me then and now was, no matter how chaotic or disorganized nature seemed, everything had a visible and invisible system of organization. As I have grown up, I have seen the delicate network of nature interrupted and tarnished by our society's growing desire for material products and the waste it produces. Plastic and non-biodegradable materials have not only invaded our environments, and in some cases, have replaced them as well. Our society keeps putting escalating value on plastic at the cost of our ecosystems. It is an issue I hope to bring attention to by creating a body of work out of recycled plastic materials that creates a tension between the natural world and consumer society. While my emphasis area is jewelry, I chose to push the limits between what is considered jewelry and sculpture in order to highlight the versatility of my materials." -Anna Petlick