At the bottom of the sink there is a black hole

Inspired by ceramic forms that facilitate everyday hygienic rituals, this installation from Rebecca Ramsey brings together a series of ceramic based sculptures that reflect on the interiority of both bodies and buildings. Here, the house (technological) and body (biological) becomes metaphors for one another. Intimately intertwined, they reveal things about each other, and act as models for understanding larger cycles of transformation and circulation in the natural world. Historically, ceramics have been used across cultures for plumbing, sinks, tubs, toilets and other sanitary objects that act as intermediaries between the waste disposal of bodies and buildings.

Mostly absent, the body is implied through organic forms and reference to fixtures that imply private routines of care. The circulatory system of the house becomes an intimate extension of the dweller inside. Mirroring architectural and bodily functions, the pipe acts as a line in the space connecting discrete sculptures while referencing the hidden systems that link the gallery to the infrastructure of the city.

The presented ceramic sculptures are hollow, with multiple openings that facilitate or deny containment. Both generous and defiant, these objects reflect the paradox of being separate from, but also contained by, the world. In both houses and bodies, plumbing is hidden the workhorse that facilitates movement, the pulse of a building/body which fights stagnation.

This exhibition is made possible with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts through the program Concept to realization.