IN KEEPING WITH MYSELF
LAURA HUDSPITH
Video, 10:00 minutes
Laura Hudspith is an interdisciplinary artist, based between Toronto and Pittsburgh, who works in sculpture, installation, lens-based performance and text. Her work plays on associations inherent in commonplace objects, and explores authenticity and the allure of simulation through the ersatz mirror. With an interest in merging civic conviction with artistic intent, she presents curious arrangements and seductive visuals that give way to inquiry of an equally personal and political nature. Hudspith is currently pursuing her MFA at Carnegie Mellon University. She has had notable solo exhibitions at This Month Only and at Project Gallery, and has participated in residencies at the James Black Gallery, WRECK CITY and the Red Lodge Clay Center.
In her video On The Table, Hudspith is pictured lying on a dining-room table, wrapped in plastic sheathing and surrounded by fresh fruit and plastic objects. The table is reminiscent of an operating theatre table or an autopsy slab, and provides an immediate reference to memento mori paintings. As the video plays, Hudspith’s soft breathing mirrors the slow decay of the fruit on display. A balance between stagnation and tension builds until a glitch in the video reveals that it is too late. Everyone must come to terms with their own mortality, and it is up to each of us to determine our agency in it.