KARLA NIXON

2016

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This body of work explores transience within urban spaces. It attempts to interrogate dichotomies such as construction and destruction, life and death, man made and nature, development and deterioration and the tensions created by these dichotomies. My exploration is an endeavour to understand my reality, my existence. To do this, I found refuge through examining transience and these contradictions.

Paper is central to my practice because of its fragility, it’s everyday usage, it’s recyclability, and because it is one of the most consumable commodities of our time. I make use of it as my primary medium whether it is cut, embossed or sculpted. This choice of medium refers to the fragility of the transient state of our lives and our environment. The more the paper is cut into the more fragile it becomes.

The imagery I use is drawn from my surroundings, mostly referencing construction sites, often in conjunction with natural forms. I have focused on construction because of its brutality and beauty. For me, construction and the processes around it are an apt subject matter to use as metaphor for the complexities of life’s transience. The process (of building) is often far more interesting than the goal or completed work itself, which in this context works as a truism to life.