The World’s Leading Authority on Sea Cucumber Crime

Mixed media box/paper sculpture. Paper clay, handmade paper, sequins, copper foil. 6 x 6 x 3 inches. 2026.

This piece was created in response to a social media meme asking “what’s a weird flex in your world that no one else would understand?” and a scientist named Dr Teale Phelps Bondaroff who responded “I’m the world’s leading authority on sea cucumber crime.”

I immediately had visions of sea cucumbers behind bars and having their mug shots taken. (As did many others judging from the comments on the video.) It made me laugh. I shared with my family. And then we were all intrigued and had to google “sea cucumber crime” and find out what the real story was. So, when I was asked to make a piece for a show with a theme of “Just Desserts/Just Deserts”, I knew a sea cucumber had to be the “sweet treat” that I featured.

It’s not the sea cucumbers that are really the criminals. Sea cucumbers are a tasty delicacy in some parts of the world. There are about 16 species of sea cucumbers that are considered endangered or vulnerable species due to over harvesting or over indulgence. Those varieties are printed on the fortune cookie “fortunes” inside the box. The box is meant to look like an award or trophy, with a sparkling sea cucumber on the top. The text printed on the papers in the piece are articles about sea cucumber crimes from the bibliography of one of Dr. Bondaroff’s papers. They include things like illegal poaching, smuggling, organized crime and the criminals getting their “just deserts”.

On exhibit

Just Desserts presented by The Snips at Fresh Eye Gallery, Minneapolis. April 10-18, 2026.

Art A Whirl, Northeast Minneapolis Art District Open Studio event. May 2026.

Here are a few photos of the making of this piece. The base of the sea cucumber is paper clay over a foil form. I stitched the paper spines to strips of paper and attached them to the body like paper mache. The star shapes on the box and spines are inspired by the pineapple sea cucumber which has star shaped spines.  These are made from dyed paper layered with star shaped sequins and beads.