Nicolas Fleming
Installation artist, Montréal, Canada, joined 10 years ago
In "Shavings", paint particles of sawdust are dropped and spread on glass. They are then set in a puddle of acrylic medium. At first part of an installation regrouping three other elements and an angled wall, "Shavings" is now forced to stand alone as a sculpture. The attractive mixture of scattered organic sprinkles and the transparent waves of medium brought to a standstill project a moody shadow on the wall and the floor.
True to an exploratory practice in shaping objects, which later become components of installations, I do not stand by a pre-determined aesthetic intent. I focus on creating situations in which several mediums and materials are forced to interact, and, in turn, in which I might feel the need to mediate.
Displaying close affinities to the formal investigation and space consideration of minimalism, my work relies on accumulation of everyday discarded objects or materials, regularly gathered on construction sites and renovation projects. I integrate them to my studio practice where they join recurring mediums: acrylic mediums and paints, isolating polyurethane, Styrofoam, car putty and others. These objects are reconfigured into sculptural forms that inhabit exhibition spaces, which are transformed and redefined through wall constructions, floor add-ons and lighting alterations. The sculptures and interventions underline the architectural attributes of the invested spaces.
The presence of references to the human body, limbs, orifices and fluids, are part of my visual language. The modified and re-manipulated factory-produced components become organic and seductive, to a certain degree. Through this imitated liveliness, the works retain a certain degree of physical or conceptual malleability, even when they appear as completed. In the same line of reasoning, I often deliberately choose not to take responsibility for the finishing of an art work which, to me, is loaded with a heightened responsibility.
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