Emilie Grace Lavoie
Exhibit Name: Between Ecology and the Object, 2018
Exhibit description: MFA Thesis defence, The Space Between Ecology and the Object, supervised by Dr. Trish Kelly, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, the land of the Coast Salish peoples – Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam Nations.
This body of works interrogates the space between an object and its ecology; the relationship between material practice and complex systems, such as living ecosystems, and the environments in which they are situated. My main interest is our current ecological crisis and the precarious relations which now exist between living species and their contexts largely as a result of human interventions in the natural world. This growing awareness of the fragility of the natural world, its biodiversity, life processes, and interactions among organisms, transform my view of the world and inspires my imagination.
Through a practice that relies on a temporal process of making, sustained through multiple stages of hand production and understanding how the process of making itself is central for my practice to make sense of how to intervene in and potentially rebuild more holistic and regenerative ecological relations.
Exploration of materials related to ceramics and textiles is produced in an effort to create an object that mirrors the transformation of an ecosystem, or at the very least demonstrates the object as dependent upon the ecology of the studio.
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Gallery
Special thanks to: Dr. Trish Kelly