Recuperative Play for Ecological GriefImmersive installation consisting of soft sculptures, lavender, chamomile, fabric, and artificial turf
10’ x 8’
2022
Recuperative Play for Ecological Grief is an experiential installation developed through my doctoral research. The work creates a space for decompression, contemplation, and gentle play through soft sculptures, artificial turf, and a canopy of sheer fabric with dried chamomile under warm orange lighting. Visitors are invited to remove their shoes, move through the constructed “nature,” and handled the sculptures.
Scent functions as a material and mnemonic element: lavender infused into the sculptures and chamomile sourced from my mother’s greenhouse offer comfort and memory, while the synthetic smells of glue and turf introduce a tension that gestures toward human contradiction, harm, and accountability. Rooted in biophilic inquiry, the project considers ecological grief alongside care ethics, eco-anxiety, and decolonial responsibility, asking how embodied attention and relational play might foster connection with more-than-human life.
This project is generously supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS).
Photos by Dickson Bou