Through the use of video, painting and installation works, Dirt seeks to engage with our bodies through the residue of the artist's body. Using soil from her home of 6 years to cover the gallery floor, Elsbury performs a series of repeated movements into the dirt; inviting visitors to interact with the traces of her actions. The futile yet, sensual act of shifting dirt leaves behind the remnants of physical and emotional labour.

 

Through the process of performance, Dirt attempts to remind us of our porous, sensitive bodies; not scrubbed clean and smooth but inhaling and absorbing our surroundings. Elsbury explores the body’s multiplicities, as containment, contaminant and something that can be contaminated. Reminding us that our feet are planted on the dirt beneath us; surrounding us and is absorbed by our bodies. The exhibition explores the earth as a constant and essential life source, and its crucial role in our inevitable passing.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Layla Elsbury is an artist based in Wellington. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) from Massey University, Wellington (2016) and is currently establishing independent studio practice. Her recent work discusses the body in relation to space. Recent exhibitions include eat your heart out (group), Massey University K1 stairwell, Wellington (2015); when you look up and it’s bad (group), Tory street Level 2, Wellington (2016) and Exposure 2016 (group), Massey University, Wellington (2016).