NACRE
2022
550 cultured freshwater pearls, silk thread, venetian plaster, oyster shells, burl wood, beads, nylon string, wood, drywall, oyster shell with internal speaker and whisper soundtrack, found objects & debris, homemade tabby stucco, nail polish, cast pewter, hydrocal, custom steel stands, door, 3 single channel videos
As my MFA thesis exhibition, Nacre centred on oysters, pearls, and related material throughlines. Featuring sculptures, video and sound works, and spatial interventions, the words and processes that drove the work were accumulation, culturing, coating, filtering, consumption, domestic space, and sitcom sets. The exhibition brought together layers and layers and layers of venetian plaster burnished to a high lustre and rough tabby stucco made from post-consumer oyster shells. An oyster whispering a sales pitch and a mouth trying to make pearls from pocket trash. Playing on the idea of the gallery as the inside of the oyster, the walls were painted to resemble the flesh of the mollusks and institutional doors and power outlets were swapped out with domestic ones.
Selected individual works included:
Worm Curtain (Filter)
Pearl Necklace
Wall with Whispering Oyster
Videos: Oystermouth, Drill, and Catch_All
Exhibited at University of Victoria Audain Gallery, Victoria BC
Photo credit: Max Keene