Anastomose du Coeur: to kiss inward, Digital 2D animation, 2024
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Anastomose du Coeur: to kiss inward is a video diptych of a dreamed incarnation of horticultural grafting. This takes place inside the whimsical world of an orange. In this solarpunk futurist world, or as the artist likes to call it – citruspunk –, citrus beings live in tight-knit communities, sharing, growing and blossoming together.
“Grafting is the act of placing a portion of one plant (bud or scion) into or on a stem, root, or branch of another (stock) in such a way that a union will be formed, and the partners will continue to grow”. *1
Graft pairings are often chosen to combine their unique strengths. While the rootstock can provide hardiness to the land and climate, the grafted plant, which has its roots cut, is chosen for its fruits or flowers. Through self-sacrifice and the help of a nurturing support system, the graft can adopt new roots and bring its fruits and flowers to a new community.Through the use of karaoke and mockumentary, Anastomose du Coeur: to kiss inward also navigates the ethics and shortcomings of migration and displacement, as we graft ourselves into different communities and lands.
*1 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Graft”. September 15, 2023
As presented as part of the 2024 Bouclair Residency in Digital Arts, Galerie B
Abby, stop-motion animation and watercolour and pencil animation on paper, stereophonic sound, 119s, 2023.
Abby is an animated short film exploring the themes of transracial and transnational adoption. The film follows the story of a young adult adoptee. The young woman traces parallels between her own adoption story and an animal's. Abby reflects on important challenges of transracial adoption: integration, trauma, and ambiguous loss. Without drawing conclusion or judgement, it portrays feelings of loneliness and cultural inadequacy.
The initial part of the film uses stop-motion animation to anchor its diegetic reality: the materials are tangible, the emphasis is on physicality. As we dive into the character’s imagination, Abby’s technique shifts to frame-by-frame animation on paper with watercolors and colored pencils: the atmosphere is tender, naive, oneiric.
Abby is closely inspired by my own experience as a transracial adoptee born in China, growing up as a visible minority in a primarily-white town in Canada.
As presented as part of the Concordia 2024 Graduating Students Exhibition at the VAV Gallery
La and Ko, Felted-wool on wire armature, crochet and stop-motion animation, 50cm x 50cm x 50cm, 2023
La and Ko is a video installation, consisting of a short stop-motion animation and felted-wool puppets. Sitting together in an embrace, the two characters contemplate the manifestation of their desire on the screen: fleeting, immaterial images made out of tiny lights.
In La and Ko’s universe, materiality reflects the pair's softness and sensitivity. The nature of the techniques used to create the piece put the slow and the handmade at the forefront, rejecting mass consumption.
As we are confronted with the consequences of modern capitalism, this piece is a yearning for escapism and freedom. La and Ko candidly negotiates the reality of material instability, ultimately reminding us of the fundamental need for safety and connection.
As presented as part of "There’s a Space for Me and You", Curation by Aimée Lebeau, at Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain Inc for Art Matters Festival