Maureen Gruben (Inuvialuk)
Beluga intestine, thread, found objects
dimensions variable
POR
Focusing in on issues of accumulation and waste, Consumed (2017) addresses the immense volume of “things” we manage to gather around us in life, questioning the inscribed social values they bring with them and their cumulative impact on us. Gruben has stitched a wide array of items into translucent, papery segments of beluga whale intestine, which she dried herself according to a traditional process that has now fallen into disuse. The collected selection includes elastic bands, ear phones, a rosary, a condom, a cut-up credit card, matches… a disparate grouping that touches on how thoroughly multiple dimensions of our life are seeded with largely prefabricated objects.
– text from “The Generosity of Translucence” by Kyra Kordoski