Pete Clarkson is a Tofino-based self-taught artist widely recognized for his marine debris sculptures, installations and assemblages. His work was the subject of a contemporary mini-opera performed by the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and has been featured in 2 Canadian documentaries – ‘Lost and Found’, which follows the return of lost items from the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami, and ‘Debris’, a National Film Board documentary about the Tohoku Tsunami Memorial he created using beachcombed material from the disaster. His art is on permanent display at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Vancouver Aquarium, Ucluelet Aquarium, Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, and can also be found at various public art installations in Tofino.

In addition to his artwork, Pete has been coordinating shoreline cleanups on Vancouver Island since 2000 while working as a national park warden at Pacific Rim National Park and project manager with Coastal Restoration Society. By his estimate, he’s been involved in the removal of over 1 million kgs of debris from the ocean, participating in the largest shoreline cleanup projects in Canada to date.

Visit the installation at Henry Nola’s Carving Shed at The Wick Inn in Tofino BC.