Eunice Luk
Sympoiesis
YYZ Artists' Outlet, Toronto, Canada.
September 21 - November 30, 2024
Exhibition text by Darian Razdar
Installation view, “Sympoiesis" (2024). YYZ Artists' Outlet. Toronto, Canada.
Installation photos by LFDocumentation.
Eunice Luk and Jennifer Laflamme
Ikimono いきもの
Junbicyu, Tokyo, Japan.
November 7 - November 9, 2023
Exhibition text by Danica Pinteric
Gust of breath
tunnel-lungs expand
evaporated evenings
becoming beings
Hills crest and diamonds twist
beyond beams
baritone branches sing
in harmony-hope
Hums rustle
pouring honey Fall
into bristled gridlock
A forest fruiting
a patient pattern
treads over
perspiring tree trunks
Through thick walls
translucent wings
echo an opera
of wind-songs
吐かれた息
トンネルのような肺が膨らむ
蒸発した夕方が
存在となる
丘は満ちダイヤはねじれ
梁の先
枝たちの深い歌声
奏でる和音－希望
ハミングざわめく
注ぐ蜜落ちる秋
硬い渋滞へと
実る森
気長な模様が
上を這う
汗ばむ幹
厚い壁を貫き
透ける羽が
呼応する
風の歌のオペラ
Eunice Luk and Jennifer Laflamme (Mifi Mifi) are Toronto-based multidisciplinary artists and friends. Ikimono, their exhibition approaches Junbicyu’s gallery space as a collaboratively-built and cared-for environment. Inspired by a mutual admiration for the Earth’s vital organisms, the artists present an ecosystem for their audience to discover. With an arrangement of naturally-dyed and painted textiles and mixed-media sculptures, Ikimono offers a contemplative space for visitors to consider the coexistence between species in a shared habitat and consider their role as participants in their own environment.
Luk and Laflamme’s practices are steeped in reverie and governed by humility and material sensitivity. Their work involves multiple stages of development. The artists do not simply use natural materials, they work with them. Incorporating clay, silk, and plant matter, the gallery’s landscape is crafted from a breadth of deliberate material engagements. In this sense, the collaboration is not only one between artists, but also between themselves and their materials.
Laflamme’s practice features contemporary approaches to textile informed by traditional Japanese materials and uses. The paintings on silk feature Nihonga pigments and ink, creating lush compositions and rich textures. Her integrated methodology produces a vibrant, almost metaphysical quality as her paintings often appear to extend beyond the third dimension. Simultaneously, her sensuous and earthy colors are instinctively soothing; expanding and contracting our perceptive faculties. The intricate layers of detail behind her work are reminiscent of the various textures of sedimentation in soil naturally occurring beneath our feet.
In her work, Eunice Luk considers diverse cultures and landscapes through a personal and emotional exploration of form. Ikimono features a series of new sculptures combining wood and soda-fired ceramics with organic matter. The result is a body of work resembling insects that invites us to contemplate the animacy and agency of the objects in our surroundings. Dispersed throughout the gallery, these small beings are imagined as seed guardians and pollinators; active participants in the collection and distribution that perpetuate seasonal cycles. Adorned with dried blossoms and stems, these helpful intermediaries carry a piece of nature’s beauty with them as they perform their noble purpose.
At home, Luk and Laflamme work together on a network of gardens around Toronto. This personal detail offers some insight into their collective appreciation for—and accountability to—the Earth. Just like the hypothetical insects in the gallery, they each make a gentle yet tangible effort to cultivate their environment.
Installation view, “Ikimono" (2023). Junbicyu. Tokyo, Japan.
Eunice Luk
Seed to (small) flower
With stamped mural by Alicia Nauta and soft sculptures by Jennifer Laflamme
Polyester Studios. Toronto, Canada.
May 7 - May 29, 2022
Humble long legs
Stretch to see the day
Nice to meet you
Unnamed life
Is born from a seed
I look carefully
Examine each leaf
Trace its shape and
Every colourful detail
It makes an irreversible leap
A small achievement
I grow with confidence
A crumpled leaf, a bruised branch
Did not hinder its spirit
Then came
Violent winds, crushing rain
Cabbage moth and dusty mildew
Despite my worries,
It caused no delay
I feel resilient
As your arms spring back
Reach for the sun
A tender strength
Bloom its first flower
A small vivid treat
For the bumblebees
and I
Installation view, Seed to 'small' flower (2022). Polyester. Toronto, Canada.
Installation view photos by Jimmy Limit.
Eunice Luk and Shokki
Unfound, Museum of Pseudoarchaeology
Mumei. Tokyo, Japan.
July 27 - August 5, 2018
Unfound displays a survey of 60 questionable objects and ceramic materials for the first time from a fictional excavation by the Suna River in the Mount Sanyo area. The investigation, accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue and exhibition audio guide presents the research and hypothesis of Dr. Kitsutsuki Shiro. The objects are examined and given detailed descriptions of their aesthetics: from the choice of clay, forms and surface treatments as well as their assumed functions and production methods. The study of the artifacts offers insight to the lifestyle and customs of a puzzling time and imagined culture. The fictional excavation provides viewers the distance to review their personal relationships with present day objects and materials. The contemplation of a certain monument or artwork, furniture, a ‘healing’ crystal or a favourite tool in their homes and workplaces are brought to mind for their aesthetics and functions. The reflection of manufactured, fabricated or handmade objects challenge viewers to reconsider their connection to and the immaterial value of the physical object.
Unfoundでは、架空の発掘調査報告として、山陽地方「砂川」から発掘された60点にもわたる、謎の物体や陶器などを展示する。きつつきしろう博士の調査と仮説が、詳細な出土品のカタログと自動音声ガイドによって、説明される。発掘品は分析され、土の種類、形状、表面の処理方法のみならず、用途の想定、制作方法まで、詳細な考察がつけられている。これら出土品の研究は、空想上にある、謎めいた、時代・文化習慣や生活様式に対する洞察を与えてくれるだろう。本展示は、鑑賞者に、自らと現代の生活用品や物との関係に対する批評眼をもたらす。職場や自宅にあるモ二ュメントや美術、家具、癒しの水晶、愛着ある道具の外観や機能に対する新たな気づきをもたらす。大量生産品、加工品、手製品への考察は、鑑賞者に、自身と物質の関係性、また、それら物質がどんな価値をもたらしているの か、再考を促す。
Installation view, “Unfound, Museum of Pseudoarchaeology" (2018). Mumei. Tokyo, Japan.
Installation view photos by Fuyumi Murata and individual work photos by Shokki.
Eunice Luk
完璧な卵などない
No egg is perfect
Prince Takamado Gallery, Embassy of Canada, Tokyo.
November 29 - January 20, 2017
「完璧な卵などない」では、「陶芸の森」滞在中に制作されたものを含む、ルックの最新作を展示します。ルックは同レジデンス滞在中、日本の田園地域での暮らしと広く知られている信楽の陶芸の歴史や伝統に深い感銘を受け、手びねりの陶芸作品と陶板画を制作しました。作品は、物事が衰退するサイクルや、自然を通じて暮らしの中で見出したささやかな喜びや安らぎから発想を得たものです。これらの作品の多くは、瞑想的な静寂、楽観、内省といった感覚を表現しています。それぞれの作品における不完全な輪郭は、ルックの陶芸作品に共通するゆったりした手作りの感性を際立たせます。
Installation view, “No egg is perfect”. Prince Takamado Gallery at The Embassy of Canada. Tokyo, Japan.
Photos by Yasuyuki Kasagi.
Eunice Luk
でんでん虫の殻の中
Inside the snail's shell
VACANT, Tokyo.
November 25 - December 14, 2016
GINZAと同世代ガールのアートで、Feel Easy。カナダ人女性アーティスト、ユニス・ルックが原宿のVACANTとカナダ大使館で個展開催
どこか不完全でほっとする、不思議な形をしたオブジェやペインティング。カナダ出身の女性アーティスト、ユニス・ルックの個展が原宿VACANTとカナダ大使館の2箇所同時開催中。日本の土に出会い、自然の形に新しい息吹を与えたルックのインタビューをお届けします。
卵？ 虫？ 海のいきもの？ さまざまなものを連想させるセラミックのオブジェたちが、朝焼けを思わせる薄いピンクやブルー、イエローやオレンジのグラデーションで彩られている。「これは、私なりの自然。森の中にいると守られていると感じる気持ちを表現しています。」カナダ、トロント出身のユニス・ルックは、幅広いメディアを扱うアーティスト。横浜市黄金町と滋賀県信楽町のアーティスト・イン・レジデンスで滞在制作した作品を中心とした個展が、原宿のVACANTとカナダ大使館で開催中だ。
Written by Satoko Shibahara for Ginza Magazine.
Sara Cwynar, Eunice Luk, Virginia Lee Montgomery, Erica Prince
things you can't unthink
Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff.
January 23 - May 22, 2016
Curated by Peta Rake
things you can’t unthink reflects the inconsistencies and contradictions of philosophical fields – new materialism and object-oriented ontology – which are still in flux. Works included speak to innovation, craft, history and science, as well the use of artistic materials – clay, paint, found objects and precious metals – and the ways in which they are employed in the making of artworks.
Installation view, “things you can’t unthink” (2016). Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre.
Photos by Rita Taylor
Alicia Nauta and Eunice Luk
Your only private part is your brain.
Koganecho Review. Yokohama, Japan.
February 28 - March 21, 2016
Exhibition title by Maddie Harker
Installation view, “Your only private part is your brain” (2016). Koganecho Review. Yokohama, Japan.
Photos by Yasuyuki Kasagi.
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