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Neither here nor there, but everywhere.
Humans are a migratory species.
Humans are a territorial species.
Humans are an invasive species.
Humans are capable of the best and the worst.
Borders are human constructions that create suffering.
Nations are antiquated human constructions that create suffering.
I am an immigrant to Canada. My grandparents nearly drowned in the Mediterranean in
1947 as refugees trying to cross from Italy to France.
We all have our roots in a story of emigration. The earth has witnessed numerous
episodes of relocations of human beings. Everything- inorganic as well as organic- on
the planet is in continuous motion since its creation. In fact, our evolution depends on it
from the biological to the spiritual levels. These works are about the struggles we
encounter emigrating but also about our resilience.
“Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace”
John Lennon- 1971
This project is a series of mixed-media sculptures and a video installation.
I have used cement, barbed wire, and shoelaces in the sculptures. The moulds come
from discarded packaging found in garbage bins and moulds of hands and feet. The
materials reflect the ruins of the violent history of nations. The hands are gestures of
defiance and compassion.
The video and installation relate to the tragedy that occurred in Pelagias harbor on the
island of Kefalonia in 2015 with the loss of many refugees at sea. The video retraces
the perimeter of the detainment house these refugees were gathered in. The sounds
evoke it and were made in empty metal boxes around the harbor. The objects gathered
around the house’s perimeters are displayed archeologically, clinically as when we often
do when trying to understand our past and distance ourselves from our emotions.
The link to the video is: http://www.leichner.ca/Installations/SEAS/seas.html
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