Late for Life Chapter II – Previously Loved: Xenia Lucie Laffely
Xenia Lucie Laffely’s exhibition “Late for Life Chapter II – Previously Loved”
Join us on May 6th from 5-7pm for the opening reception of Xenia Lucie Laffely’s exhibition “Late for Life Chapter II – Previously Loved”. The event will start with an artist talk by Xenia, followed by a reception with complementary food and drinks.
“Under certain circumstances failing, losing, forgetting, unmaking, undoing, unbecoming, not knowing may in fact offer more creative, more cooperative, more surprising ways of being in the world.” – Jack Halberstam, The queer art of failure
working in bed · 7 homes within 6 months · yesterday I couldn’t sleep and today I sleep too much · always the lesbian continuum · body liquids · toys · the dollar store meets the dollar bean on my boobs · the spitting scene in desobedience · assholes are a genderless space · falling behind in life · late bloomer · will I look like my nan ? · can I name my wrinkles · lying
This exhibition is the first chapter of a new body of work called “Late for life”. It started with the feeling of being late in life. Through the lense of failure (as conceptualized by Halberstam), I have explored 3 ideas; laziness, lust and (old) age.
During the first 2 weeks of my residency, I devoted my time to gather and produce pictures that I turned into digital paintings. These images evoke a patchwork of feelings, memories, thoughts, references, and sensations. I turned these images into quilted, embroidered, and embellished textile pieces. Contrasting with the softness and warmness of the textile pieces, I also printed some of the paintings on aluminium and highlighted them with nail polish. The space of the exhibition is designed to accentuate the ambivalence between the feeling of intimacy and exposure.
ps : it’s not a cow print, it’s the belly of my dog.
Born in Switzerland, lives and works between Lausanne and Montreal. Xenia Lucie Laffely has a background in fashion design (HEAD-Geneve), french literature, art history (UNIL-Lausanne) and feminist studies (UQAM- Montreal). Xenia Laffely’s practice combines the traditional language of textile work with the contemporary aesthetic of digital photoshopped painting, creating hybrid pieces that question hierarchies between art, design and crafts. She creates a lively sentimental reappropriation of issues related to domestic space, intimacy, queer love and self-fiction.
A Reflection on the work of Xenia Laffely, by Larry Weyand
Image Credit: Ethel Brown, m+e photography, 2022
Eastern Edge would like to extend a HUGE thank you to East Coast Quilt Co for partnering with us, and allowing Xenia to use their long arm sewing machine to make many of the works in this exhibition.
This work is also supported by Ville de Lausanne.
