Love Cushions

Nick Modrzewski and Nabilah Nordin

Gallery 1
Opening 01.05.19 6-8pm
Artist Talks 23.05.19 6-7pm

Dogs were once wolves. Now they are fluffy love-cushions.

We medicate them. We neuter them. We control their bodily functions. They are pampered, trimmed and trained until they are obedient. What are these creatures? What does their existence say about us, their “owners”? 

Humans have kept pets since ancient times. There were domesticated wildcats in Egypt in 3500 BC. Dogs have long adorned the laps of Kings, Queens and Emperors. 

But what does it mean to own a pet today? We live in an age of uncertainty and anxiety. Climate change. Data collection. Surveillance. Identity crises. 

Everything is unravelling.

So, we return to the domestic space – and the animals we put there – as a last bastion of comfort and control. It gives us a sense of identity and purpose to own a pet. “God is dead,” they say, so we become deities within our own homes. On the one hand, we treat our pets like royal decorations. On the other, we control every aspect of their lives. It is this strange love – this mixture of nurturing and dominance – that we are exploring in Love Cushions. 

Read exhibition essay ‘Heavy Petting at the Cat Café’ by Tessa Laird.

Images

Nabilah Nordin and Nick Modrzewski, Studio shot (works in progress), Mixed media, 2019

Nabilah Nordin and Nick Modrzewski, Under Your Feet (A Musical), Mixed media, 2018

Nabilah Nordin and Nick Modrzewski, Vacuum Cleaning and Exotic Birds (Installation view), Mixed media, 2017