Oriana Poindexter
Artist Oriana Poindexter free dives off the California to collect seaweed and uses a mix of traditional and alternative photographic processes (photography and photograms) and printmaking to reflect their beauty. She finds inspiration in nature and believes that every person can find beauty by interacting with the natural world.
Angela Abshier
Angela grew up in Wyoming and originally went college to be study journalism but pivoted to law when she heard about Napster and the potential it had for dispossessing musical artists from their artistic property. Angela believes that when a system is broken and you have an idea of how to fix it or change it or make it better, it’s worth it to step in and make it happen. After she was introduced to sailing and she saw the massive super yachts with their huge sails, her creative mind took hold. She learned that some of the material is extraordinary and yet it had a limited life span. She wanted to make a positive difference with the decommissioned sails that otherwise ended up as landfill. Angela has invested her own human capital and worked with architects and others to find ways to use the sails for humanitarian purposes. One of the first projects for Sail to Shelter is installing sails in Maui to answer a number of different issues. Maui suffered a devastating fire in August 2023,
Dimitra Skandali
Dimitra Skandali grew up on Paros, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. She says the island has shaped the way she sees the world. Dimitra combines traditional fiber arts like crochet, embroidery, and weaving with sea grasses and beach trash as a way to focus attention on the ocean and the environmental issues that impact its health and sustainability. While her work is rooted in her relationship with the Aegean Sea, Dimitra also has ties to the Pacific Ocean, having spent almost a decade in California. By using beach trash and natural materials she explores sustainability and other environmental issues like ocean pollution. Her installations, which have been curated in more than 90 solo and group exhibitions worldwide, allude to increasing environmental risks alongside human migrations and struggles with identity.
Danielle Burnside
Danielle Burnside grew up in Michigan on a lake. At the time she was scared of anything that lived in the water. After she moved to Hawaii, she didn’t venture into the ocean for two years. It was divine intervention that a friend of hers who had been working on a manta ray tour point was leaving the job and offered her place to Danielle. Danielle had always wanted to see mantas but was scared of the dark water and got sea sick. She took Dramimine and went on an introductory tour. She fell in love with the experience and took the job. Her life changed when she went underwater.