Vessels, Orbs and Pyrophytic Pods at Zalucky Contemporary

The artists assembled here perform various forms of alchemy to explore the inner life of things. Their work exalts the inherent mutability of matter, the constant state of becoming that might not always be perceptible to the naked eye. Employing the corrosive power of salt, the destructive energy of fire and the transformative effects of vapour, they attempt to bear witness to the ‘changefulness’ of inanimate objects and how, in that state of flux, new forms of knowing can emerge.

Each artist acts as both author and interloper in their own work. In doing so, they demonstrate what Jane Bennett in Vibrant Matter describes as “the extent to which human being and thinghood overlap, the extent the us and the it slip-slide into each other”.(1) Lee Henderson ‘captured’ his own breath in a series of copper vessels at the Glenfiddich Distillery, which were later exposed to the vapours within a spirit safe to verdigris for 3 years and a day—the minimum required aging time for scotch whisky. Liljana Mead Martin nestled resin casts of her own folded hands (charged with the fluorescent hues of thermal gradient maps) within the remains of charred wood in a gesture both exquisite and profound. And, in an act bordering on the macabre, Laura Hudspith has entombed photographs of herself in transparent resin orbs that reveal only the remnants of the salty brine that has consumed each image beyond all recognition. Collectively, these works speak to the regenerative powers of the natural world and our intrinsic connections to the forces that shape it.

(1) Bennett, Jane. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. (2010)

Lee Henderson (b. 1979, Saskatoon) is a contemporary artist whose practice includes video, photography, installation, sculpture, performance, and text. His work moves in constant contemplation of death, in senses grand and minute, somewhere between the persistence of collective histories and the brevity of individual lives. Henderson has studied art in Canada and Germany, holding a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design (2003) and an MFA from the University of Regina (2005). Recent and upcoming projects include the sprawling performance/installation/web collaboration Untitled Peter Tripp Project (PAVED Arts, 2022; Curtain Razors, 2021; Dunlop Art Gallery, 2020); the CONTACT Feature Exhibition To Step From Shadow Into the Warmth of the Sun at Gallery44, Toronto (2018); A Hand That Points Aligns the Air at Open Studio, Toronto (2017); and solo exhibitions at The Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery (Sarnia, 2020), Gallery101 (Ottawa, 2018), and Latitude 53, Edmonton (2016). Henderson represented Canada as the 2017 Glenfiddich Artist in Residence, and is a winner of the Gattuso Prize for his 2016 CONTACT exhibition Never Letting Us Take Breath at Zalucky Contemporary.

Laura Hudspith (b. 1990, Toronto) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the personal health and socio-cultural possibilities that might arise through cultivating a practice of turning inwards. Spanning sculpture, installation, photography, and text, her work articulates a reorientation toward molecular or atomic concerns; toward in/organic animacies and toward questions on the nature of being and the mattering of matter. Notable solo and group exhibitions include A Nimbus, A Lark, and A Broken Link at Platform Gallery, Pittsburgh (2022), There are seams in purgatory at The McDonough Museum of Art, Ohio (2022), Move Objects On at The Plumb, Toronto (2021), Cuties Who Are Nice at Kontort Production Space, Toronto (2019), Pink Champagne at Wreck City, Calgary (2018), and TL;DR at Project Gallery, Toronto (2017). Her work has received recognition from national and international granting bodies including the Frank-Ratchye Studio for Creative Inquiry, Toronto Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. Hudspith holds a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal (2013) and is currently completing her MFA at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, as a Crossed Purposes Fellow through 2023.

Liljana Mead Martin (b. 1986, Halifax) is an artist based in New York and Vancouver working in sculpture and installation. Her work focuses on dark ecological subjects, informed by current climatic events and localised histories. Martin considers the reciprocity between bodies and land, creating sculptures which depict speculative lifeforms emerging from devastated environmental conditions. Martin holds a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (2010) and an MFA from Emily Carr University (2016). Recent solo and group exhibitions include Deep Thirst BioOrchestra at the Drake Hotel, Toronto (2022), Geophilia at Wil Aballe Art Projects, Vancouver (2021), Stone Witness at Nanaimo Art Gallery, Naniamo (2020) and Jelena and the Magic Flute at CSA Space, Vancouver (2020). In 2021, her sculpture The Listener won the Matt Steffich Juror’s Choice Award and was included in the Salt Spring National Art Prize exhibition. Martin is also the creator of BIOMASS, a platform for exhibitions and dialogues on artistic practice.

Vessels, Orbs and Pyrophytic Pods, 2022, exhibition view, Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto

Vessels, Orbs and Pyrophytic Pods, 2022, exhibition view, Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto

Vessels, Orbs and Pyrophytic Pods, 2022, exhibition view, Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto

Laura Hudspith, en- / un- / -en, 2020, silk print imaging the interior of an aloe vera mold, copper pipe, and fittings, moulding and body-casting, silicone, pigment, beeswax, flocking fibers, dimension variable

Laura Hudspith, en- / un- / -en, 2020, silk print imaging the interior of an aloe vera mold, copper pipe, and fittings, moulding and body-casting, silicone, pigment, beeswax, flocking fibers, dimension variable

Laura Hudspith, en- / un- / -en, 2020, silk print imaging the interior of an aloe vera mold, copper pipe, and fittings, moulding and body-casting, silicone, pigment, beeswax, flocking fibers, dimension variable

Liljana Mead Martin, Novas Egg, 2022, charred wood, resin, pigments, 53 x 5.5 x 4 inches

Liljana Mead Martin, Mod Thermal, 2022, charred wood, resin, pigments, 60 x 5.5 x 4 inches, Liljana Mead Martin, Ancient Risk, 2022, charred wood, resin, pigments, 60 x 5.5 x 4 inches

Liljana Mead Martin, Pyrophytic Pod, 2022, charred wood, resin, pigments, 19.75 x 5.5 x 3.5 inches, Liljana Mead Martin, Sea Weed, 2022, charred wood, resin, pigments, 26 x 5.5 x 3.25 inches

Liljana Mead Martin, Pyrophytic Pod, 2022, charred wood, resin, pigments, 19.75 x 5.5 x 3.5 inches

Liljana Mead Martin, Mod Thermal, 2022, charred wood, resin, pigments, 60 x 5.5 x 4 inches

Vessels, Orbs and Pyrophytic Pods, 2022, exhibition view, Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto

Laura Hudspith, Animacy Orb One, 2022, medicinal salts crystalized through self-portrait on silk, UV-degrading resin, aloe vera dye, pigment, acrylic, copper, 39.25 x 10.5 x 10.5 inches

Lee Henderson, Spirit Receivers No.1, No.2, No.3, 2017-2020, reclaimed distillery pipe, breath, 8.5 x 6 x 6 inches, each

Vessels, Orbs and Pyrophytic Pods, 2022, exhibition view, Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto

Vessels, Orbs and Pyrophytic Pods, 2022, exhibition view, Zalucky Contemporary, Toronto