9349 & Big Mama (2016)
Ode, Graduating exhibition of University of Ottawa, 2016. Recipient of Suzanne Rivard-Le Moyne Award and The ARTENGINE Prize for New Media, Ottawa, ON.

Installation work. Metal, wood, fluorescent lighting fixtures, string (yellow and black), neon rope lights, velveteen, Plexi-glass, Arduino and electronic components, air pump, digital metronomes, tubing, clamps, plastic bag.

Dimensions of incubator unit 9349: 20” x 24” x 54”
Dimensions of Big Mama: 5’ x 2’ x 2’

  9349 & Big Mama is a site specific installation piece that pushes the boundaries between the organic and artificial. Inhabiting the sub-basement of the Visual Arts Department at the University of Ottawa during the graduating exhibition Ode, the piece is set in an abandoned space bathed in blue light. Upon entering, 9349 stands as an incubator unit, drawing the viewer close to see the object inside and question its lifelike quality. As the viewer is drawn closer in within the quiet of the sub-basement, they hear a small interspersed humming resounding from within the medical like structure. However, what is more alarming is the larger interspersed sound resonating from down the hall. In the second portion of the installation, the viewer enters the main chamber in which Big Mama consumes the space, creating an incredibly alluring yet threatening environment; within this chamber, Big Mama lives and breathes.

  Together, the two live harmoniously in their seclusion while also in dialogue with one another, questioning the notions of preservation and control, as well as mimicry and the natural world within our own spaces.