Sara Angelucci: Undergrowth

Touring exhibition: SPAO, Ottawa (2021); Art Gallery of Sudbury (2021-2022); Varley Art Gallery of Markahm (2023); Tom Thomson Art Gallery (2023); Art Gallery of Mississauga (2024

Sara Angelucci transforms found photographs and creates images exposing the cultural and historical conditions outside the image frame, bringing attention to the social forces that generate the language of photography.

Undergrowth brings together several bodies of work produced over the last decade that examine the ways in which photographic practices have contributed to the divide between humans and nature. This direction finds its impetus in her series Aviary (2013), which morphs images of extinct or endangered birds with found Victorian cartes-de-visite portraits to form strange, hybrid creatures. These works, alongside series such as Arboretum (2016) and the sculptural installationSightings (Ivory-Billed Woodpecker) (2015), consider the implications of the historical Western impulse to capture and classify nature.

Angelucci’s most recent works are grounded in environmental engagement, investigating local plant species and the vulnerable habitats we disturb. Nocturnal Botanical Ontario (2019–ongoing) highlights the intricate webs of native, introduced, and invasive plant species in our immediate proximity, while her video Ghost Orchard (2022) captures the overrun growth of an abandoned orchard just before impending plans for urban redevelopment will cause its disappearance.

Throughout these interconnected projects, Angelucci offers thoughtful and intimate acts of attention that evolve from a place of reverence and respect, as she seeks to examine and reconcile our relationship with the natural world.

Publication: https://ecwpress.com/products/sara-angelucci-undergrowth-broussailles?_pos=1&_sid=94a7738d5&_ss=r