Lauren Nurse
BFA (Concordia), MFA (York)
Design, Print Media
pivonurse@gmail.com
Outline of Research
I am interested in the intersections between nature and culture - my current research is about locating the mythological/uncanny in evocations of the ‘wild’. Cultural perceptions of nature have always portrayed a certain amount of anxiety, and have spawned numerous myths, legends and fables. These narratives expose our uneasy relationship with the natural world. For example, the figure of the werewolf is the ultimate symbol for the transgression between human and animal, and fears about being consumed are embodied in the figure of the vampire. I believe that looking closely at these legends provides a key to understanding the culture that produced them. I think of the mythic as a symbolic expression of the superstitions that pervade a society and shapes its collective behaviour.
My work is about things that trade chemicals with the air, and the dissolution of boundaries between categories, ideas, and objects, the tension between inside and outside, and the intersections that occur when borders of the body become fluid and porous. I am also interested in the grotesque, which for me, is a difficult concept to define. Although it’s often linked to the abject and sublime, it is a unique æsthetic category, one that calls into question the very idea of categories. Foremost among its many fluid characteristics is a tendency to infect reality with the mythic, creating a disturbing interzone of strange hybrids and metamorphosis, as well as reversals and inversions.
I like the idea that our lives and actions are governed by invisible forces – this explains my interest in both the natural world and the supernatural. We are yanked around by forces external to us – bacteria, organic systems, weather - and by forces internal to us - superstition, myth, faith.
Biography
I am a transplanted Québecer, living and working in Toronto, Ontario. I completed my MFA in print media and installation at York University in 2008, and currently teach print media and design at University of Toronto in Mississauga, OCAD and York University. Recent projects have included a solo show at Open Studio, participation in the Gladstone Hotel’s UpArt Contemporary Art Fair, and an exhibition of new sculpture work at KWT Contemporary.
Approach to Teaching
I want to act as a resource to my students, and give them the ability to develop ways of working with, and thinking about contemporary art. Encouraging students to develop individual ways of working and the ability to situate their practice within a contemporary context is very important to me as a teacher. My intention is to create a studio environment where students are challenged to explore technical and conceptual possibilities, and to think as individuals and develop a visual language of their own.
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