Architecture students take part in international artist’s Arctic exhibition
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A group of architecture students have worked alongside internationally renowned artist Stephanie Imbeau to create wearable sculptures for the Arctic exhibition ‘Proof of Life’.
The sculptures will be transported to Svalbard, Norway in late September where people will be able to interact with them and see how they adapt in response to the extreme weather of the Arctic.
The exhibition seeks to explore the way individuals establish themselves mentally and physically within a community and how human desire for both autonomy and interdependency interact with location.
Using a combination of different mediums, the house-shaped sculptures are supported by a lightweight frame draped in translucent, embroidered fabric and are illuminated from within.
Molly, a student who helped create the sculptures describes her experience and involvement in the project: “I have always loved sculpture and art and am glad to have rediscovered my passion for sewing and embroidery.
“I learnt a lot of different techniques and enjoyed watching the prototypes for the structure evolve over time.”
Artist, Stephanie Imbeau has praised the students on their engagement with the sculptures and explained how their knowledge base and skill-set helped shape the direction of the project.
Discussing the motivation behind the Proof of Life project, Stephanie said: “I hope to both gently affirm my resistance to growing nationalistic tendencies through these wearable sculptures that can be transported to different landscapes, while concurrently creating a work that will, in effect, become site specific in every context it is worn in.
“I want Proof of Life to celebrate the extraordinary worth of every person and every place.”
The project has been created in collaboration with the Arctic Circle Programme - a highly-competitive expeditionary residency programme where artists and scientists can collaborate to create solutions on a myriad of issues relevant to our time.