Entanglements: An Exhibition of Ecological Interconnections
Karsh-Masson Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
November 2022- January 2023
Co-curated by Celina Jeffery and ArtEngine
Entanglements explores the intricate and often messy relationships between humans and a variety of ecological communities. This exhibition examines our deep entanglement with other beings, objects, and natural elements, encouraging us to rethink our role within a larger ecological network.
Featured Artists:
Cheryl L’Hirondelle reflects on the fate of eels in the Ottawa River through her Cree worldview, exploring themes of cross-species communication and the will and agency of non-human beings.
Sasha Phipps presents a sculptural installation featuring homemade fruit gummies encased in plastic, modeled after shells and fish from the prehistoric Champlain Sea, which once covered the Ottawa Valley. Phipps critiques our consumption of nature while drawing attention to extinction narratives, both past and present.
Meryl McMaster combines her nêhiyaw (Plains Cree), British, and Dutch ancestry in performative photographs that bear witness to the impact of insect decline in Manitoulin Island’s forests and among Lake Erie’s coastal ice flows. Her work reimagines human and more-than-human relations through performances with insects, prompting a rethinking of our ecological connections.
The Macronauts Collective’s Hublots installation invites viewers to consider plankton and its relationship with microplastics, reminding us of the unseen, molecular aquatic life that coexists with human-made pollutants in the ocean’s depths.
Together, these artists explore broader ecological timescales while addressing the precariousness of our present and future. Through their works, Entanglements advocates for a new vision of community that extends beyond resilience toward a thriving, interconnected future.
