MASTORIES08
Catherine Spillane "Spil" is an incredible friend, artist, stylist and hip mum who lives and breathes the ocean. She teaches others to respect our land and waterways, and to be creative with what the sea leaves behind.
Mihan Aromatics was lucky enough to spend time with her in Anglesea, Victoria. Joining her for a coastal clean-up, watching her sort, collate and create beautiful vases and 3D collages from washed-up ocean waste. She has the most magnificent home, family & garden and has been featured on Design Files. We chatted for hours over multiple pots of herbal tea, exploring her process, her passion, and the deep calm she brings to both.
This is a powerful and grounding interview. I hope you enjoy the read as much as I loved the time.
Spil, Tell us a little bit about you and your passions in life.
I love surfing, gardening, yummy food, dancing, camping, travelling and living by the bush
and the beach with my friends and family. I spend a lot of my days on the beach with my
partner Drew, my two sons Wilbur and Percy, our dog George.
Which is your favourite parfum from the Mihan Aromatics’ collection and why?
Sinful rose. It’s so beautiful and I get lots of compliments whenever I wear it.
Can you recall a specific scent memory that stands out to you?
Scent memories are so fascinating. I think one of the reasons I love sinful rose is that
it takes me back to my time travelling in Morocco, 20 years ago. Scent, emotion and
memory are so intertwined, and I love that this memory feels so vivid when I wear
the scent.
Josh and I have just been in Thailand scuba diving and snorkelling amongst such
rare marine life and corals. We were shocked by the amount of rubbish on the less touristic
beaches & the fishing nets washed up from Sea. The whole time I was thinking Spil would have a field day.
What inspired you to start creating art from washed up sea waste found on
Australian beaches? Was there a specific moment that sparked this creative and
environmental journey?
There were two specific moments actually! About 10 years ago Drew and I were
down the coast at Johanna beach which is on a really rugged and exposed part of
the coast that gets lots of swell. He was surfing and I went for a walk along the
beach. There was so much plastic washed up on the beach, I had never seen
anything like it. I ended up filling up 3 shopping bags with the plastic, at that point not
knowing what I’d do with it, but being really drawn to the beautiful worn, pastel look
that the ocean had imparted on the plastic. When I got home and laid it all out on the
floor, the compositions just came together and it grew from there.
The second moment was in Beachport SA , another really wild coastline that seems
to collect a lot of fishing rope. We were camping in the dunes over new years and I
collected a few garbage bags full of fishing rope, with the intention of using it for
weaving.
How do you approach the process of collecting materials for your artwork?
Are there particular items that you are drawn to, or does the beach decide what
you work with?
I am definitely drawn to softer colours that have been worn down by the sand, and
interesting shapes. Anything that looks too bright, bold or new isn’t really appealing
to me. However, when I’m collecting I take whatever I find as I am doing this as a
creative practice but also to keep the beaches and oceans clean. Occasionally these
pieces come in handy, recently I made a couple of magpies and so some of the
black plastic that had been sitting there for years was finally used.
Your work transforms discarded waste into something beautiful and meaningful. How
do you hope people react when they see your pieces?
My hope is that people find the artwork fun and light and a joy to look at! But also
that it creates a pause for people to consider the impact of their lifestyle on the
ocean and its sea life, and how they might be able to make positive change.
Which location or beach has had the biggest impact on your creative process, and
what kinds of waste do you most often find washing ashore?
I spend most of my time on the beaches of the surf coast, this is where I have
collected the majority of my plastic. Sometimes spending hours on the beach after a
big ground swell, and other times collecting a handful of pieces if I’m down there
briefly with the kids or after a surf. On this coastline, the plastic is typically broken
into quite small pieces, it seems as though the pieces are getting smaller and smaller
which I find sad. On the more rugged beaches further down the coast, the waste is
often much larger.
What are some of the most surprising or unusual objects you’ve found and
incorporated into your art?
It’s so interesting when I pick up a piece of plastic that has some writing on it in an
Asian language, thinking about the journey it has made whilst bobbing around in the
ocean and finally landing ashore.
If you could send one message to people about waste, sustainability, and the
environment through your art, what would it be?
Our livelihood depends on the ocean, so we as a collective need to do what we can to look
after it.
World Ocean Day 8th of June 2025 - Mihan Aromatics will increase it's donation to Seabin Charity. Increasing to $5 for every order placed on this day. This is an ongoing and important partnership with I=change and Seabin Foundation.
All Mihan Aromatics Photos were taken by Spil on the traditional lands of the Wadawurrung people and the Gadubanud, part of the Eastern Maar peoples. We pay our respects.
