portfolio - sculptural practice
Meltdown, 2018, plastic fishing line, dimensions variable
Even with significant evidence of global warming, plastic was used to create a frozen world of pseudo-ice sheets and structures for the 2010 Winter Olympics. While the Olympics was a celebratory, connective human experience it simultaneously contributed to issues of marginalization, consumptive excess and material waste. Using plastic remnants gathered from this single-use, frozen world as metaphor for the world’s disappearing ice, Meltdown interrogates the threat of global warming.
Even with significant evidence of global warming, plastic was used to create a frozen world of pseudo-ice sheets and structures for the 2010 Winter Olympics. While the Olympics was a celebratory, connective human experience it simultaneously contributed to issues of marginalization, consumptive excess and material waste. Using plastic remnants gathered from this single-use, frozen world as metaphor for the world’s disappearing ice, Meltdown interrogates the threat of global warming.
Salish Sea: J35 less 1, 2018, aluminum mesh, yarn, acrylic, dimensions variable
This work situates us in a time where the eco-system of the Salish Sea is threatened by a variety of factors, including the highly debated Trans Mountain pipeline project. If approved, this project would create a seven-fold increase in the number of oil takers moving through these waters and would negatively impact the feeding practices of a small pod of endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales.
In this midst of the environmental, socio-political, and economic debate about the Salish Sea, female Southern Resident Orca Tahlequah (J35) gave birth to the first, albeit short-lived, surviving calf that her population has had in three years. In an act of what scientists called “a tour of grief” J35 carried her dead calf for 17 days for a distance of more than 1,600 km. Simultaneously 3 year old Orca Scarlet (J50), also a member of the same pod, was identified as being emaciated and ailing, prompting a large scale effort by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to work with partner agencies such as the Vancouver Aquarium, to attempt medical treatment in the wild. J50 was declared dead mid-September, 2018. Through wide-spread media reporting, the plight of J35 and J50 captured the hearts of millions and highlighted the larger threat to their species and the Salish Sea as a whole.
This work situates us in a time where the eco-system of the Salish Sea is threatened by a variety of factors, including the highly debated Trans Mountain pipeline project. If approved, this project would create a seven-fold increase in the number of oil takers moving through these waters and would negatively impact the feeding practices of a small pod of endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales.
In this midst of the environmental, socio-political, and economic debate about the Salish Sea, female Southern Resident Orca Tahlequah (J35) gave birth to the first, albeit short-lived, surviving calf that her population has had in three years. In an act of what scientists called “a tour of grief” J35 carried her dead calf for 17 days for a distance of more than 1,600 km. Simultaneously 3 year old Orca Scarlet (J50), also a member of the same pod, was identified as being emaciated and ailing, prompting a large scale effort by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to work with partner agencies such as the Vancouver Aquarium, to attempt medical treatment in the wild. J50 was declared dead mid-September, 2018. Through wide-spread media reporting, the plight of J35 and J50 captured the hearts of millions and highlighted the larger threat to their species and the Salish Sea as a whole.
By a Thread, 2016, acrylic, yarn, 12x12x1.5’
“By a Thread invites viewers to move through a labyrinthine structure that challenges visual and spatial perception, disorienting the senses. Strands of yarn dipped in day-glo acrylic paint colours and suspended in a careful pattern from the ceiling form a sculptural installation akin to a three-dimensional op-art painting. Referencing the vibrant strands of colours found inside a fibre-optic cable bundle, Tuepah creates an embodied experience that invokes the glut of digital information we must navigate in our daily lives.
Moving through the work, lines of colour converge momentarily creating the illusion of solidity, only to become a profusion of incongruous lines with the next step. In traversing this maze we find ourselves back where we began, tracing a metaphorical path of what the artist to as “a continuous state of desire.”
Tuepah’s labyrinth is like a filter bubble made manifest; in the quest to move forward, our (search) histories interfere with our perception, narrowing our ability to manoeuvre outside of a prescribed path.” Laura Schneider, Curator, The Reach Gallery Museum
“By a Thread invites viewers to move through a labyrinthine structure that challenges visual and spatial perception, disorienting the senses. Strands of yarn dipped in day-glo acrylic paint colours and suspended in a careful pattern from the ceiling form a sculptural installation akin to a three-dimensional op-art painting. Referencing the vibrant strands of colours found inside a fibre-optic cable bundle, Tuepah creates an embodied experience that invokes the glut of digital information we must navigate in our daily lives.
Moving through the work, lines of colour converge momentarily creating the illusion of solidity, only to become a profusion of incongruous lines with the next step. In traversing this maze we find ourselves back where we began, tracing a metaphorical path of what the artist to as “a continuous state of desire.”
Tuepah’s labyrinth is like a filter bubble made manifest; in the quest to move forward, our (search) histories interfere with our perception, narrowing our ability to manoeuvre outside of a prescribed path.” Laura Schneider, Curator, The Reach Gallery Museum
Mother Tongue: Surrey, 2015, acrylic, yarn, 12x12x1.5’
This artwork is a response to news articles and research on the cultural significance of language, Canada’s linguistic diversity, and the preservation of endangered languages. It gives expression to the complex human geography of the City of Surrey by drawing on Statistics Canada census data, with the data-set Mother Tongue — standing in as metaphor for communication, an indicator of diversity and origin, and as a data-visualization tool.
To visualize the diversity of Surrey, the percentage of people reporting a specific language as their Mother Tongue is translated into a volume of paint, each with its own colour. These volumes are transformed into yarn dipped in paint, or paint poured into sheets, globs, or spots. English, at 51.72% is represented by the wall of the “white cube” itself, notionally bringing the architecture of the space into the work.
This artwork is a response to news articles and research on the cultural significance of language, Canada’s linguistic diversity, and the preservation of endangered languages. It gives expression to the complex human geography of the City of Surrey by drawing on Statistics Canada census data, with the data-set Mother Tongue — standing in as metaphor for communication, an indicator of diversity and origin, and as a data-visualization tool.
To visualize the diversity of Surrey, the percentage of people reporting a specific language as their Mother Tongue is translated into a volume of paint, each with its own colour. These volumes are transformed into yarn dipped in paint, or paint poured into sheets, globs, or spots. English, at 51.72% is represented by the wall of the “white cube” itself, notionally bringing the architecture of the space into the work.
