HOW TO COME HOME

4 small pillow-sized objects were made using found textiles from the ARTE storage room, airspace bags from the shipment box, and hand-sewn words and patterns.

18 cm x 10 cm

We talked a lot about sleep and the need for rest in our early morning studio class. I chose to make these pillows using found materials, and the words are hand-sewn from our weekly readings of Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. These are words I find myself returning to as dreams for the future, so I call them my oracle dream pillows. The airspace bags are typically used to deliver and protect objects, symbolic of the wisdom in these words and the delicate work we do in community art education. Making these pillows took 2 hours each, a slow process that embodied the rest and care I’ve been needing but never making time for.

The pillows were hung using fishing wire above the bed in the How to Come Home group exhibition.

Mixed-media sound sculpture made using recycled handmade paper pulp, chalk, gelatin, aluminum wire, and clay. A Bluetooth speaker inside the object plays an experimental loop recording from our record-making session with Angus, overlaid with the sound of water from the St. Lawrence River.

30 cm x 18 cm

I was interested in working on a coral-shaped project as a way to step into more sculptural work in my practice. Coral is home to many life forms and symbolizes interdependence and the criticality of reciprocal community work with all living beings. The soundscape is our shared voice, and the water is connected to our locale. 

I imagine this work covered in different shapes and colours to represent the growth and nourishment of the coral as it relates to our growth and interconnectedness. Some modelling clay will be placed with the object inviting participants to add to the work.

Gatorade bottle, paper pulp, chalk, gelatin, egg tempera

19 cm x 9 cm

I am developing a community project engaging in water consciousness, sound and performance. The workshop would include making our own vessels/instruments using ready-made and natural materials to perform and record a soundscape. I developed this prototype to experiment with everyday objects that hold/protect/control. Chalk is the dust of seashells, and gelatin is the dust of bones - together, these elements are part of an ancient painting technique (egg tempera), bringing into question the life cycles of our materials. Group discussions may explore the hauntology of water, using divining rods to map the water movement, which would then guide the movement in the performance work.

The bottle was placed on the window sill, How to Come Home.

Handmade paper pulp, chalk, gelatin, clay

slipper 1: 28 cm x 12 cm x 13 cm

slipper 2: 27 cm x 14 cm x 12 cm

Working in community spaces can bring about feelings of doubt and anxiousness, especially when we put a lot of thought and care into planning activities that don’t go to plan. Part of this learning process is realizing there is no weakness in our failures, and every day we learn to adapt, have compassion, and think on our feet. I made this work using my own feet to mold the paper pulp. The quality of the chalk and clay results in the materials being cold to the touch, which reminds me of the metaphor for having cold feet, a bodily response experienced when adapting and working through these feelings and growth. I wanted the work to take the form of house slippers, and yet the materials read in contrast. This work was very experimental, so I wasn’t sure about the results. If I make it again, I would want to be able to walk in them as part of a performance work in the space.

The slippers were placed by the foot of the bed.

An image of the group pop-up exhibition installation at Concordia University Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance, Montreal. 

Press release

Each work in my spilt milk series was displayed in different areas of the space as a symbolic gesture of our interconnectedness. Calling Home was placed by the window with modelling clay for visitors to interact.