Negozio

deconstructs and reimagine traditions of craft by subverting the ethos of mass production. For this project, I engaged . The slip-casting process used for this group of works is common in commercial . For my series, I disrupted the process by removing the forms prematurely from the plaster molds, before their clay walls were fully hardened, and manually shaped their fragile forms into something unexpected. In this flimsy state, they were poked and prodded out of sameness, on their own feet. Each of my works is only truly activated when it comes into contact with light or flowers, or is mirrored through photography.

“Dimmi amore”—in English, “tell me, my love”—is a phrase used often in Italy. Often, I am overwhelmed by this phrase, brought almost to tears by the simplicity and beauty of an invitation to speak.

Through this project, I invest in and reinvent the configurations of the home—understanding the domestic sphere as the fundamental starting point for social or cultural revolution. To borrow from Gaston Bachelard, the home is “our first universe, a real cosmos in every sense of the word.” Following this prompt—the linkage of human sociality and architectural sensibility—Brick Block, Tick Tock nimbly uses these building blocks as the bases for domestic objects and relational activations, taking shape as lamps, furniture, and sculpture, as well as dance performances.

Bodies of Water traces part of the water cycle from icy lakes replenished by snowy mountain runoff to streams as they become rivers and the rivers as they flow out to sea. A series of rocks are stacked and mounted upon a metal fountain spigot affixed to a square base. The series is inspired by the “nasoni”—named for their hooked, nose-like spigots—which are scattered throughout the streets of Rome, providing free drinking water to residents.

Having lived in Canada and the United States for most of my life, residing in the Italian countryside has exposed me to new and simple pleasures: freshly harvested brown and oyster mushrooms, stems still coated in dirt; tangy lemons plucked from the tree, the air wafting with a zesty fragrance released by the lightest touch; red beans couched in magenta-spotted pods. Stepping away from urban centers—where markets are perennially flush with greenhouse produce or international imports—I remember the terrestrial cycles that govern animals and plants that were familiar to my ancestors who farmed the Italian countryside.

A Likeness embraces Florentine history with early humanism, the importance of ‘disegno’, and Galileo Galilei. By being participatory this project also offers you to become a patron to the arts, a concept inspired by the Medici family and their great influence on the world today.

Shattered Stone reflects upon my process of letting go of expectations. It was an almost tangible presence in my body—a stone lodged in my stomach, lungs, or throat. It has taken a long time to chip away at the bonds of blood that tie me to them. I have illustrated this progress towards liberation in a sculptural installation of shattered rocks, which symbolize the dissolution of the different pressures that snatched at my consciousness and kept me from hearing myself.

The Fair Sex looks at my personal experience to understand how culture enforces certain gender norms and how that affects ones life years later. Critiquing toys we play with, how certain childhood movies can effect our self worth, and the pressures of the biological clock.

This project explores the power of language and of how language belongs to people in power. From analyzing the alphabet to studying how one may reprogram a set of beliefs, it is divided into three categories: 'Alpha', 'Reprogramming', and 'Pinocchio and the Conscious Cricket'.