Growing up in a rural environment has instilled in me a deep passion for the natural world and a growing concern for the effects of climate change. As an interdisciplinary artist, I tend to respond to the issues at hand, whether they be loss of cultural identity and marginalization, climate change and its effect on glaciers and wildfires, or the transience of life during a pandemic.
Latest Exhibit
TRANSIENCE
Transience explores notions of nature and identity and our existential vulnerability during the age of uncertainty. Utilizing wild plants as stand-in metaphors for the fragility and transience of life, this work is a response to the times we’re living in, of a global pandemic, climate change and military conflict.
Historically, wildflowers and plants played a subordinate role to the domesticated showy varieties as fillers in bouquets and paintings. And yet, not only have native plants served as national and provincial emblems of identity, but they are vitally important to the pollinators that agriculture relies on. Scientists are now telling us that native plants are at risk due to climate change, as they are slower than non-native plants to adapt to rising global temperatures.
The process of carefully selecting, pressing, and installing the plants, allows for a direct hands-on experience, while rendering a representation of a plant requires a more focused and contemplative approach. The dominant black colour can suggest a post-fire occurrence or the long history of black drawings from cave paintings, to early botanical prints, to contemporary art.
