Jennifer McCurdy’s “Coral Nest” is among the art works in the new exhibition at Craft in America. (photo by Gary Mirando)

Craft in America’s new exhibition “Making Waves: Ocean Ecology & Craft,” which opens on Jan. 16, will focus on works by artists who deal with various ecological and human-generated threats to our oceans in a variety of media. This exhibition will be on display at the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles and amplified by an expansive virtual exhibition through June 19. Featured artists include Po Shun Leong, Joan Takayama-Ogawa, Jennifer McCurdy, Christopher Edwards, Linda Gass and Sarah McMenimen.

In an era of climate crisis, ocean ecology is one of many issues facing society and the public conscious. The work of the artists featured in this exhibition sheds light on the impact of climate change on the bodies of water across the planet, the hazards to life within them and their vitality to human existence, underscoring that climate change is one of the largest existential and physical threats to human life on earth.

Featured artworks document the beauty of the natural world that exists underwater, reminding viewers about the need to protect these resources before nothing remains beyond their artistic likenesses.

Ogawa, a professor at Otis, whose work largely inspired the initiation of the exhibition, has been making intricately formed and carved earthenware totems about global warming and the impact on coral since she first noticed bleaching while swimming in Hawaii nearly 30 years ago. She has applied this concern to her own studio and added energy-saving steps, solar power and low fire clay to her practice in response, while leading a charge to bring tools to artists who wish to make their practices more eco-responsible. Similarly, McCurdy uses the translucency of porcelain to echo the bonelike living structures of coral while designer and artist Leong carves wood into complex patterns and forms in homage to life under the sea.

As artists who are addressing concerns for the environment, these individuals make every effort to weigh the eco-impact of their own practices. This includes the sourcing of materials and the carbon imprint of their methods of production. The exhibition will be paired with related public and education programs, including artist talks and Craft in Schools workshops for underserved K-12 public school students.

For more information, visit craftinamerica.org/center.