lavender requiem

2024

latex coated car exhaust pipe , steam , wax emulsion (of lavender, cedarwood & frankincense oils) , steel , latex encapsulated lavender stalks, burnt sage leaves


Lavender Requiem is an assemblage that juxtaposes the visceral and the ephemeral, merging industrial refuse with nature's delicate elements to evoke themes of environmental collapse, the body, and the ravages of modernity. At its core, the sculpture presents a reclaimed car exhaust pipe, coated in latex, transformed into a conduit of both breath and decay. This exhaust, once a symbol of unchecked industrial progress and the driving force of modern capitalism, is repurposed as a vehicle of meditation on the consequences of these forces.

Connected to a kitchen steamer, the exhaust pipe directs the vapour through the sculpture. This rising heat and vapour are meant to parallel the warming of our planet—an inescapable result of humanity's reliance on industry. The steam also activates the sensory elements of the sculpture, releasing a fragrant blend of lavender, cedarwood, and frankincense. These scents, traditionally associated with healing and spirituality, play a counterpoint to the toxic fumes humans spew into the environment through modern modes of movement and mass production. This sensory contrast invites viewers to confront the tensions between artificiality and nature, destruction and renewal, pollution and purification.

Lavender stalks serve as both a metaphor for nature's resilience and its fragility. As the steam warms the stalks, they begin to fall— one by one—representing the slow, inevitable decline of the natural world under the pressures of modernity and capitalism. The latex coating on both the exhaust and lavender stalks signifies the artificial grip of industrialization on nature’s body, suffocating and preserving it simultaneously, like an embalming of Mother Earth in her decline.

Through this work, I seek to visualize the looming reality of climate disaster, the commodification of nature, and the body of the Earth as a vessel strained by humanity’s relentless pursuit of growth. The industrial and the organic become intertwined, urging viewers to reflect on our roles within this fragile balance, where even the most fragrant and pure of natural elements can be subsumed by the machinery of modernity. This work is a mournful tribute to our world in peril — an acknowledgment that what falls away may not return.

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