Fish Finder 4' x 8'
This painting, its story and imagery, came about as a result of an afternoon fishing with my dad and son. We gazed upon the fish finder- a magic cartoonish view into the depth- hoping to find a school below us. Occasionally, a few dozen might meander into view which elicited howls of excitement from my son and a flurry of casting. I secretly hope that no fish are caught because it pains me greatly to see any creature suffering but after fishing for hours, floating about in Hull bay, I am even more saddened by my son’s disappointment. We talk of days of old, when my dad’s dad (Pappa) fished regularly in Boston Harbor while working as the senior mechanic for American Airlines.
“I had only to drop my line and a fish would be on it” He used to say.
My Great uncle emigrated to the US from Sicily and settled in the North End. He was a commercial fisherman full of tales of the sea, its wrath and beauty alike. Gradually, over the course of his career, he had to fish increasingly deeper and farther out as the fish became less plentiful. So far out to sea he once was, that a storm blew in Suddenly and he could not get back to port in time. His ship sank. He and his entire crew were very fortunately rescued by helicopter. Soon after that, he retired. The fish were too far away.
In the research I’ve done on pre and early colonial New England, I found many accounts of the cod and other large fish being so abundant that they were actually a nuisance for ships coming and going from the harbor and waterways. The native people, (Wampanoag) relied on the plentiful fish as a dietary staple, especially during the summer months when tribes moved from their sheltered inland wintering lands to the coast and islands.
The science tells us that soon, there will be more plastic pollution in the oceans than marine life.
My son knows these stories and facts. He is sad and angry that he cannot catch a single fish for his dinner. He is sad and angry that the generations before him exploited the abundant abundant fish in the Sea, polluted the land and oceans, and left his generation with a world on the brink of collapse.
All this is true. All this is sobering and dejecting and while I wanted this painting to document these sentiments, I also wanted the words to be able to rewrite our future. I want it to also foretell of possibilities of a positive future. The words can be picked out, rearranged to say that ‘once upon a time there was plastic and pollution in the ocean, that the fish were gone but now there are many fish in the sea. I want this for my son and all generations human and non human alike. I want this to be the future.