Shanie Tomassini

iPhone Ritual
09.08–10.16.2021
Room 2

The lockdown has been a productive time for Shanie Tomassini. Her most recent sculptural practice has focused on the transitory nature of things. This has led her to dabble with various materials, including ceramics and incense—both of which require firing to reach their definitive state. The body of work that she developed for her solo exhibition at Centre CLARK is the result of months of experimentation and labour in the studio. Upon first glance, one will notice the diversity of works: ceramic vessels occupy most the floor and are used as stands for a series of incense sculptures. A metal structure punctuates the space, while a circular wall sculpture representing a floor drain single-handedly extends the exhibition surfaces vertically. The soft mumble of a fountain-sculpture installed on the floor almost conveys the impression of a Zen Garden. Despite the variety of materials and forms brought together here, the sculptures speak collectively of a common ephemeral condition. They act as portals between interrelated spaces: inside to outside, physical to virtual, internal to external and between interconnected states: supple to rigid, visible to concealed, liquid to solid, etc.

Presented on elegant terracotta-coloured ceramic vessels, Shanie Tomassini’s most enigmatic sculptures take the form of the various cell phones she has personally used over the years. These objects reproduced in incense—with rosemary and rose, cedar and white oak, or simply in coal—were once treasured objects that relayed the magic of contemporary telecommunications. Cell phones are intimate objects; we carry them in our hands or snuggle them up against our body in our pockets. We gently hold them to our face, caress them lightly with the tips of our fingers and in return they connect us to loved ones over great distances. They are portals to the virtual realm, objects of love, but they also present a constant threat to our security and freedom. By tracing each cellphone model she has ever used, Shanie Tomassini underlines the material and technological advancement of the last decade and a half, but simultaneously, she also marks the subconscious transformation of the collective ethos.

While our daily lives become increasingly scattered into both physical and virtual spaces, Tomassini’s commitment to organic materials represents a return to craftsmanship that requires practice, commitment, and rigour. In this way, one can understand how many works exhibit traces of the artist’s hands and fingerprints. While the work offers an introspection into the incessant changes that occur around us, Tomassini celebrates the mundane rituals of daily life, no matter how seemingly inconsequential. These repeated gestures provide a sense of normalcy as the world undergoes a transformative period.

– Anaïs Castro

The artist would like to thank Centre CLARK (galerie & atelier), the Canada Council for the Arts, Jean-Philippe Montpetit, Anaïs Castro and Philippe Caron Lefebvre for their support and contribution to this project.