Mere Phantoms: Undergrowth

Curated by Karly Boileau 

In Mere Phantoms' latest exhibition Undergrowth, the gallery, garden, and library converge in a display of shadow and light. Imagination runs free as we think about the worlds existing beneath our feet in this immersive environment created by the artistic duo for Cambridge Art Galleries, Idea Exchange, Preston.
 

Undergrowth is an interactive shadow installation that invites the audience into a metaphorical journey to contemplate life’s cycles both physical and psychological.

Much like stories, memories, hopes, disappointments, joys, and grief that lurk underneath our skin, an entire universe teems with life under our feet in the undergrowth. Invisible at first glance, this world is filled with plants and creatures living in symbiosis and in constant metamorphosis.

What can we learn if we look closely?

Inviting the audience to move through the gallery using mobile lights, the artists create a playful flip of scale where the small, intricate paper cutouts become large scale shadow scenes.  
- Mere Phantoms

Mere Phantoms is a Montreal (Tiohtiá:ke) based duo. They are artists Maya Ersan (she/her) and Jaimie Robson (she/her). Drawing on traditions of shadow theatre, early cinema and papercutting, they create interactive installations and performances positioned between spectacle and experience. These works function as analogue immersive environments that rely on audience participation and explore the possibilities of situating the audience as performer.