Gust of breath 

tunnel-lungs expand

evaporated evenings

becoming beings

Hills crest and diamonds twist

beyond beams

baritone branches sing

in harmony-hope

Hums rustle

pouring honey Fall

into bristled gridlock 

A forest fruiting

a patient pattern 

treads over 

perspiring tree trunks

Through thick walls

translucent wings 

echo an opera 

of wind-songs

Eunice Luk and Jennifer Laflamme (Mifi Mifi) are Toronto-based multidisciplinary artists and friends. Ikimono, their exhibition approaches Junbicyu’s gallery space as a collaboratively-built and cared-for environment. Inspired by a mutual admiration for the Earth’s vital organisms, the artists present an ecosystem for their audience to discover. With an arrangement of naturally-dyed and painted textiles and mixed-media sculptures, Ikimono offers a contemplative space for visitors to consider the coexistence between species in a shared habitat and consider their role as participants in their own environment. 

Luk and Laflamme’s practices are steeped in reverie and governed by humility and material sensitivity. Their work involves multiple stages of development. The artists do not simply use natural materials, they work with them. Incorporating clay, silk, and plant matter, the gallery’s landscape is crafted from a breadth of deliberate material engagements. In this sense, the collaboration is not only one between artists, but also between themselves and their materials.

Laflamme’s practice features contemporary approaches to textile informed by traditional Japanese materials and uses. The paintings on silk feature Nihonga pigments and ink, creating lush compositions and rich textures. Her integrated methodology produces a vibrant, almost metaphysical quality as her paintings often appear to extend beyond the third dimension. Simultaneously, her sensuous and earthy colors are instinctively soothing; expanding and contracting our perceptive faculties. The intricate layers of detail behind her work are reminiscent of the various textures of sedimentation in soil naturally occurring beneath our feet.

In her work, Eunice Luk considers diverse cultures and landscapes through a personal and emotional exploration of form. Ikimono features a series of new sculptures combining wood and soda-fired ceramics with organic matter. The result is a body of work resembling insects that invites us to contemplate the animacy and agency of the objects in our surroundings. Dispersed throughout the gallery, these small beings are imagined as seed guardians and pollinators; active participants in the collection and distribution that perpetuate seasonal cycles. Adorned with dried blossoms and stems, these helpful intermediaries carry a piece of nature’s beauty with them as they perform their noble purpose. 

At home, Luk and Laflamme work together on a network of gardens around Toronto. This personal detail offers some insight into their collective appreciation for—and accountability to—the Earth. Just like the hypothetical insects in the gallery, they each make a gentle yet tangible effort to cultivate their environment.

—Danica Pinteric