As a taxonomic category, weeds are not an actual species of plant, but a behaviour of appearing and thriving in a place where they are unwanted. Do Weeds Still Grow in Heaven? feature the kinship of weeds with racialized queerness/transness, viewed with hostility as undesirable or unorganizable excess. The allusion to ‘heaven’ emerges from this common tactic of hinging hope on a queer utopia, in conjunction with the popular use of Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 song Heaven is a Place on Earth as a sapphic anthem. The exhibition then looks inwards: seeing weeds as the experience of abuse in queer relationships, a subject often cast aside in the narrow celebratory refrain of queer love–a flawed but strategic way of advocating for belonging. Through embroidered text on fabric prints and installation structures reminiscent of undomesticated interiors, the space becomes a tentatively hospitable container for disparate kinds of weeds to crop up.
An essay about this body of work was written by Casey Mecija. It was also translated into French by Catherine Barnabé.
This exhibition takes place at Gallery 101 (Ottawa) from November 9 to December 14, 2024. It continues at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (Lethbridge) in January 2025. Some artwork was included in group exhibitions The Traces that Remain at MAI (Montreal), measured by hand at Artspeak (Vancouver), and indiscernible thresholds, escaped veillances at the University of Toronto Art Museum.
I would like to thank the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council in the making of this work.
for the cracks
galvanized steel wire, silk, and tape, variable dimensions, 2024
Installation with 2×3 spruce, made with the help of Neil Hossack.
PROOF--Bedroom in Scarborough
hand-embroidery on printed cotton, 37” x 57”, 2021. Photo by Maryn Devine.
detail of the installation. Photo by Maryn Devine.
Installation view
photo by Elayna Lee-Young
installation shot, photo by Maryn Devine
Home and Stranger
hand-embroidery on printed organza back with printed poly linen on wooden stretcher, 39.5" x 27", 2023. Photo by Maryn Devine
Paintings framed by wooden frame. Photo by Maryn Devine
Breathing Room i
oil on canvas, 40” x 30” x 0.75”, 2024
Self-Portrait as Interior, Garden, Afterlife
oil on canvas
40” x 30” x 0.75”
2024
Veiled
oil on canvas
40” x 30” x 0.75”
2024
Acquired
Breathing Room ii
oil on canvas, 36” x 24”, 2024
The Weeds
hand-embroidery on printed organza, 36” x 48”, 2023. Photo by Maryn Devine.
Installation view. Photo by Maryn Devine.
Too Early
89” x 58”,
hand embroidery on printed cotton with ladder blinds and balsa wood, 2024. Photo by Maryn Devine.
detail of Too Early. Photo by Maryn Devine.
for the cracks
steel wire and silk, installed below 2×3 wood framing. Photo by Maryn Devine.
Installation view, photo by Maryn Devine.
tablecloth and knife
hand-embroidery on printed organza and cotton silk, 49” x 60”, 2024. Photo by Maryn Devine.
whole to me
hand-embroidery on printed cotton gauze, 40.5” x 33.5”, 2023. Photo by Maryn Devine.
WE ARE NEVER JUST ONE PERSON
hand-drawn posters photocopied and collaged on the front window of Gallery 101. Photo by Maryn Devine.
WE ARE NEVER JUST ONE PERSON
hand-drawn posters photocopied and collaged on the front window of Gallery 101. Photo by Maryn Devine.
The Traces That Remain
Group exhibition curated by eunice bélidor. Installation with embroidered printed fabric and 2x3 spruce at MAI, Montreal, QC, May 2—June 15, 2024.
Whole to me
hand-embroidery on printed cotton gauze
40” x 33.5”
2023
[Text reads: you have always been whole to me]
Acquired
Tablecloth and knife
60” x 49”
hand-embroidery on printed organza and silk, 2024.
text reads: “like describing a crime scene by the pattern of the tablecloth rather than the size of the knife”
Installation at Artspeak (Vancouver, BC) as part of duo exhibition, measured by hand, with Vitória Monteiro curated by the Dirty Dishes Collective.
Too Early
89” x 58”,
hand embroidery on printed cotton with ladder blinds and balsa wood, 2024. Documentation of group exhibition 'indiscernible thresholds, escaped veillances,' curated by Dallas Fellini at the Art Museum at University of Toronto. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
Too Early
detail of hand-embroidery
every time I remember to call my grandmother
made for the exhibition ‘Et dis-moi : why is the past tense always longer’ at Stewart Hall Gallery, curated by Maude Hénaire.
Hand-embroidery on printed organza, set of two, each 5’ x 9’
So much for slowness
hand-embroidery on linen,
45” x 28.5”
2023
*the image depicts the work not installed in ideal conditions, just in the studio
