Amorphous<\/em> (2017\u201319) is a sculptural installation made from expired edible rice paper. The sculptures resemble stiff, crinkled translucent sheets of plastic that have retained an imprint of the uneven matrix against which they were moulded. The folds and creases create delicate shadows that expand the sculptures\u2019 reach into the space. Created by Tkaronto-based artist Gwenyth Chao\u2014this artwork is at once disarmingly simple, abstract, and ethereal, characteristics that permeate her art practice as a whole. Central to her creative process is a deep ecological awareness, which translates into creating new biomaterials and a commitment to biodegradability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Red, Yellow, Blue<\/em> (2018\u201319), Chao uses the same material that was use for Amorphous<\/em>, only this time the translucent sheets have been tinted in primary hues with food colouring. Of smaller stature, this intricate work uses bioplastic as a vector through which pure colours collide and amalgamate. Here, too, projected shadows expand the work\u2019s physical presence, all the while inviting secondary colours, such as purple and green, into the sculpture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Plasticity<\/em> (2019\u201321), Chao creates her very own bioplastic made from tapioca starch, mixed with vinegar and glycerin, to form casts of everyday plastic containers that range from water bottles and takeout packages to sauce containers and jars. Interested in the cumulative nature of plastic, she litters the gallery space with 567 spectres of consumer goods. The numbers \u201c5 6 7\u201d are intentionally spaced out in the work\u2019s text description, to gesture to the break-neck pace at which plastic is produced, as well as the exponential rate at which it contaminates and infiltrates our surroundings. The material used here is meant to wither and start decomposing over the span of the exhibition, welcoming and embracing the decay and entropy that \u201creal\u201d plastic inherently challenges. Acting as a pathfinder of sorts, Chao seeks new ways of knowing through reimagined materiality, and (re)defining potential forms of bioplastic participates in that effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently pursuing a PhD inhumanities at Concordia University, Jo\u00eblle Dub\u00e9 is researching the intersectional temporalities of intergenerational (in)justices and contemporary art. Positing relationality at the centre of her theoretical preoccupations, she investigates ways of rearticulating the relationship between the living and life-to-come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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