City of Laguna Beach Temporary Public Art Program
Steel frame, skinned with reclaimed plastics
Artist Statement
"Our relationship with plastic is coming to a head. Our sculpture ‘Inquire Within’ symbolizes the thoughtless ways we consume plastics and the detriment of the culture of convenience to our environment. But there is hope, if we look to nature for inspiration, we will, through education, find a solution, if we open our minds and listen.”
Artists
Yustina Salnikova is an artist with a vision to bring environmental awareness and social change through sculpture and the transformation of public spaces. She believes art can not only be a vehicle for education and storytelling but can also be used to provide urban and municipal functions through biomimicry. Ultimately, her work aims to transform her personal relationship with the climate crisis and beyond into a prayer for a more connected and equitable world where no one and nothing is "discarded."
Joel Stockdill is a self-taught sculptor with 20 years dedicated to his craft. His love of large-scale sculpture is rooted in the magic of creating as a team and bringing together a community to achieve incredible scale while learning from each other. He has worked in the San Francisco Bay area for much of his career and has created work across the globe. Joel prefers to build sculptures intuitively with waste material and found objects.
‘Inquire Within’ is both beautiful and meaningful during the day and night.
Hosts
This exhibition has been facilitated by the City of Laguna Beach Arts Commission, Cultural Arts Department, visual art producers Building 180, the Artists, and funded through the Laguna Beach Tourist Marketing District and the City of Laguna Beach and will run until Mid-October.
“I love it when we introduce something new to the lawn at city hall because we know it gets everybody all agitated.” — Laguna Beach Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf
The City of Laguna Beach is dedicated to protecting its neighborhoods and the environment. As part of that mission, the City is committed to reducing plastic pollution that ends up on City streets, parks, and beaches.
Out of the blue…
Yustina and I originally met in 2020 online participating in the inaugural Design Science Studio coHeART. It was then I was wooed by her incredible life size whale made of reclaimed plastics.
Synchronicities abound as I now stand here in Bend, Oregon with Yustina and Joel. This is the second time I have seen their work in person.
I first met Joel and Yustina face to face in Southern California at the ‘Inquire Within’ unveiling.
That happened because out of the blue I received a message from Yustina she was heading from Oregon to Laguna Beach in SoCal to install a commissioned public art sculpture to be unveiled at city hall. And that she was now settling in Oregon with her partner Joel only a few hours drive from our dHome.
Coincidentally my partner and I were scheduled to drive from central Oregon to see our daughters who are near Laguna. So we left the night before so I could make it to Yustina’s unveiling in my hometown where we had raised our daughters until we moved just as the Design Science Studio launched.
Now that we are all back up in Oregon what fun to see their community action project to build a giant caterpillar out of discarded cardboard at the Bend Fall Festival.
I’m looking forward to seeing where Yustina and Joel’s art leads next with the stewardship of Shannon’s team at Building 180 to keep meaningful art in the public sphere.
Inquire Within