THE SISTERS

BY EMILY CHOI

The oceans
influence
and are influenced
by humans.

The currents transport warm water from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. Thus, ocean currents modulate the global climate, helping to curb the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface. A life without ocean currents would be impossible: regional temperatures at the poles and equator would be so extreme that much more of Earth’s land would be inhabitable.

The oceans serve as places of mystery and grace, but people fear the unknown and the strange, subjecting the oceans to the consequences of their harmful actions. Humans can side with the oceans by vocalizing their care for them and living a more sustainable lifestyle by reducing the use of pollutants and single-use plastics.

For me, painting these oceans has been an act of repetition and relaxation that made a year of quarantining at home a little more blissful. Although no one knew where the world was heading,

I could live life
one blue paint
at a time.