Interconnections | Phototaxis | Spider empathy | IntersecT
Inspiderations is my MFA thesis exhibition. With classes being remote for the last term at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECUAD), I was able to show the work locally where I live in Ottawa thanks to support from Gallery 101 and online in Becoming, my cohort’s final online exhibition with a curatorial text by Lisa Baldissera.
Through my practice, I consider how artists can communicate a sense of empathy, compassion and kinship with insects and arachnids that encourages thoughtful cohabitation and the adoption of sustainable ecological practices.
The focus of my MFA research is the loss of biodiversity and reduction in insect populations due to climate change and human interference in insect life cycles. I evoke the decline in species primarily through imprint techniques with insects and non-toxic materials. When working with insect bodies, I only gather and work with found insects that have previously perished, and insect materials purchased from ethical sources.
Reflections on killability of nonhumans and the looming ecological crisis caused by the loss of species are a key part of my practice and of my approach in memorializing dead insects in a subtle, poetic way. My passion for printmaking and my work with found insects lead to reflections on environmental decline, as the resulting imprints convey presence through absence.
Through material research, ecological reflections, and attempts to establish kinship with nonhuman animals, the explorations I undertook as part of my creative research have resulted in a body of work documenting live arachnids and insects and memorializing fallen ones.
My MFA Thesis, Inspiderations: Connecting With Arthropods To Inspire Ecological Sustainability is now available through Emily Carr’s E-Collections.