Emilie Houssart

Fake wood, toxic vegetables, ads for lavender-flavored bleach: symptoms of human disassociation from the ecology of our own planet pervade our language, our culture, and our physical and virtual environments. In an age of climate awareness, our celebrated conscious intelligence has proved devastatingly basic in relation to the sophisticated interdependent systems surrounding us. In a variety of commercial and ‘wild’ settings, I hope to disrupt socially normalized constructs that contribute to our numbness to nature, while highlighting the role of inherited European colonial anthropocentrism in this disconnection. I try to create space for exploratory conversations, on the premise that our future relationships with the ground are a choice; while fostering renewed respect for all life forms on earth and presenting alternative models of success.

Drawing on absurdist theater, I design provocative interventions for public spaces that aim to actively reconnect people both physically and psychically with the land surrounding them.

Earthrisings, maquette 2020. Vines, branches, earth (including approx. 1 billion microorganisms), suburban hedge clippings trimmed in performance, forest floor matter, 4 x 2 x 2 ft. (left) Rupture iv 2019. Kozo wall sculpture, 14 x 10 in.

MFA Sculpture