The nest of a “weaver bird” synthesized with a woven quilt displaying symbols of comfort, to demonstrate the role of craft and textiles in fostering a sense of home.
Office or “co-working” space shown as an ant hill where nobody works together (as compared to the eusocial structure of ant colonies)
In cold climates, flying squirrels survive the night by cuddling with their neighbours in a single tree and sharing body heat.
Rattlesnakes are able to harvest rainwater on their own scales to drink. Here the rattlesnake is imagined as a house with self-sustaining plumbing.
Some people create homes out of old or discarded structures or vehicles, echoing the way that mushrooms, lichen, and other fungi make use of fallen plant matter to create their place in the world.
Moles create tunnels underground to catch earthworms, stockpiling them in dens to eat later, just as humans collect food in our homes for comfort and sustenance. This triptych explores the nature and role of food in creating a sense of home.
Polar bears rely on the ice to freeze over every year in order to survive, a process which is being threatened by climate change. The precarious nature of this “home” is reminiscent of the housing crisis in Toronto, in which a lack of affordable permanent housing keeps many in precarious and inadequate shelter, without access to necessary resources like sanitation and warmth.
Caddisfly larvae collect materials to create homes to encase themselves within. We find home in familiar objects, even when the places we live may be impermanent or non-ideal.
Honeybees re-use their building materials (beeswax and honey) over and over again in a regenerative and sustainable way
Multi-generational household represented as a crowded tree with eggs piling up, showing the current phenomenon of younger generations not being able to afford to move out or purchase their own homes when they may want to
Dream Home
Dream Home examines the human conception of “home” by looking at the various ways that other species in nature construct their homes, in order to emphasize that access to adequate housing is an essential aspect of our existence.
