Neeko Paluzzi: HOMUNCULUS, or the planets seen through my childhood window
HOMUNCULUS, or the planets seen through my childhood window
Neeko Paluzzi
FEATURED EXHIBITION at the 2019 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival
May 1-16, 2019
Opening: Wednesday, May 8 | 5-9PM
Artist Talk: Wednesday, May 15 | 7PM
As a child, I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew older. I spent countless hours using my viewmaster to explore the universe, imagining that one day I would see the planets with my own eyes. Recently, I found myself sleeping in my childhood bed. Once the feelings of nostalgia faded, thoughts entered my mind about failing to become who I wanted to be.
HOMUNCULUS, or the planets seen through my childhood window is an installation of photo-based work that draws upon these feelings of failed expectations and vulnerability, crafting a narrative that allows the viewer to visit seven fictive planets through a classic viewmaster. The figures on each planet are variations on the artist’s body after being 3D-scanned and 3D-printed. In addition to interpreting alchemical notions of the planets, the figures reference the compositions and themes found in Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which features a boy exploring the universe to understand what coming-of-age means.
As an artist, my body and art are vessels to visualize my fictions, using my imagination to confront, categorize, and conquer troubling aspects of my reality.
Neeko Paluzzi is a Canadian artist whose practice blends the possibilities of analogue darkroom processes with contemporary photographic techniques, such as 3D scanning and printing. He is a graduate of the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa and holds a Masters of Arts from the University of Ottawa. He was the winner of the 2018 Project X, Photography Grant from the Ottawa Arts Council.
Northern Contemporary Gallery
1605 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON
(416) 464-9385
Partially accessible
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