Under the Sea - 2025
Welcome to the second annual Under the Sea virtual exhibition, presented by Moku Art Studio. We are honored to once again showcase a powerful collection of artworks that celebrate the beauty, mystery, and urgency of our ocean’s story. Building on the success of our inaugural exhibition, this year’s Under the Sea deepens its commitment to both artistic excellence and ocean advocacy.
This exhibition continues to serve as a platform where art and purpose converge, offering not only visual inspiration, but also a rallying cry for ocean conservation, sustainability, and education. Through the eyes of gifted artists from around the world, we are invited to dive beneath the surface and reflect on what it means to protect and reconnect with our ocean planet.
Each selected piece was carefully chosen by our panel of distinguished judges for its ability to excel in three key areas in support of the UN Ocean Decade:
Connecting people and the ocean
A call to action
Restoring the viewer’s relationship with the ocean
These criteria mirror our growing belief that art has the power to influence hearts, inform minds, and inspire meaningful action in support of the UN Ocean Decade and Ocean Decade Challenge 10.
Under the Sea is not just an exhibition, it’s a growing platform for dialogue, creativity, and collective action in support of our oceans. This year, we continue to bring together artists, scientists, activists, and ocean lovers to cultivate a creative community devoted to one of Earth’s most vital and threatened ecosystems. As this platform evolves, so does our ambition: to spark dialogue, build bridges, and energize a global audience around the shared mission of ocean stewardship.
Thank you for diving in with us once more. We are thrilled to have you on this continued journey beneath the waves.
Under the Sea has been approved as an endorsed activity by UNESCO’s UN Ocean Decade. Being an endorsed activity offers greater visibility and the chance to contribute to a global effort for a healthy, sustainable ocean through impactful collaboration.
Under the Sea Virtual Exhibition
Why a map?
We made a deliberate choice to present the participating artists within a map format. This decision was motivated by our desire to visually emphasize the global significance of ocean conservation and protection, illustrating how these critical issues resonate across borders and affect us all. By mapping out the diverse locations of the artists, we aim to showcase the widespread engagement with this cause, demonstrating how creatives from various corners of the world are actively addressing and bringing attention to the urgent challenges facing our oceans. Through this spatial representation, we hope to underscore the interconnectedness of our planet and the collective efforts underway to safeguard our marine ecosystems.
The format
We recommend viewing the map on a desktop. If you would like to see the map bigger, just click on the top right square. Every artist is placed on the map with a colored marker. When you click on the marker, you will see a window to the left of your screen with the name of the artist, their piece, the artist’s statement about their work, and a link to their website. Please click on the images so you can see the full image or video. If the artist has several pieces in the exhibition, you can scroll through them using the arrows.
Artworks chosen by the panel of judges
Voting is still underway.
Connecting people and the ocean
A call to action
Restores the viewer’s relationship with the ocean
The judges’ personal favorites
In addition to selecting the top three artworks that exemplify visualizing science compellingly, issuing a call to action that inspires, and changing the viewer’s relationship with the ocean, the judges also handpicked their favorite piece. This selection process not only highlights the overarching criteria for evaluating the submissions but also acknowledges the subjective resonance that certain artworks may have with individual judges.
My favourite is Christopher Bellamy's Lucid Life | Marama Ora
I like the combination of familiarity and puzzlement. The patterns instantly call to mind the shapes of brain corals and the scribbles on the faces of giant coral reef fish called Napoleon wrasse. I have always found these patterns fascinating and beautiful. In this form I see them in a new way, with their fluorescent glow drawing me towards organisms that live much deeper in the ocean. This piece is enhanced by the process of its production, in collaboration with Indigenous people of Polynesia, and by the symbolism of symbiosis, fragility and adaptability.
My personal favorite is Pearl Ether by Peter Lathourakis
My personal favourite is Lucid Life | Marama Ora, Living Bioluminescent Swimsuit.
There are a lot of layers to this. The piece is alive, reactive, and biologically inspired. It is also technically very challenging, combining many different skills to produce a new process. It gives humans a marine symbiont, like coral’s algae or the bioluminescent bacteria cultivated in light organs. That it is short-lived, eventually dying and fading, feels like a feature, not a bug.
courtesy of Zaria Forman