ASYLum

collaborative exhibition with Neeko Paluzzi
January 10 - February 16, 2025
SPAO Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Curated by Katie Lydiatt
Pigment ink on vinyl adhesive; silver gelatin print; used cardboard boxes; LED lights; cut-out images from vintage photography magazines and art history books; c-prints from the artists’ family albums; instant-dye prints, pigment prints, and silver gelatin prints and test strips from the artists’ archives; various objects from the artists’ studios, including film cameras, ceramic figurines, religious paraphernalia, and childhood mementos.

“In this exhibition, Johnston and Paluzzi highlight the materials that get accumulated in the creation of an arts practice, and the emotional, physical, and conceptual weight that these objects hold. Props, novelty items, prototypes and paper ephemera are housed inside a cardboard shrine. Each box is a miniature stage, an assemblage of references, memories, and gestures that illustrate the labour and weight of building a single image. While the cardboard installation pays reference to obsolescence, protection and isolation, it also raises larger questions about trauma and mental illness. Where do we turn when our minds feel fragile? Where do we put all of the clutter? How do we construct spaces—physical or emotional—that allow us to process, to create, and to survive? The works on display honor SPAO as a space of solace and creativity, demonstrating how such sanctuaries enable transformation. The layers of this exhibition—both material and emotional—invite viewers to reflect on the delicate balance between containment and release, and the strength required to carry the weight of both.” - curator Katie Lydiatt