Aurora is Canadian, but grew up in Hawaii and has lived in New York City for over 20 years. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.
Artist Statements
2010
Everything matters, that is why it is called “matter”.
We are all collaborating in forming our reality. Our thoughts, beliefs and actions form this shared experience of life. Values gradually change over time. Valuable art reflects genuine values. People in society who engage in the conscious exploration, documentation and collection of works of art are collaborating in the creation of a poetic historiography of humanity. My aim by engaging in artistic discourse is to obtain a clearer understanding of what it means to be a human being living on this planet at this point in time an how my thoughts, words and actions can positively affect my surroundings.
My work is a reflection of my values. I value nature above all else because it is the source from which we have all arrived here. The most interesting aspect of nature to me is light. Implementing the physical properties of light, life (at its source, i.e. reproduction), and harmony are my main formal tools for transforming things that are essentially negative (nightmares and waste) into things that are essentially positive. The relationship between dark and light and how to increase light , visibility and life force, this is the main thrust of my artistic practice.
2009
I am in love with organic forms and obsessed with the malleability of matter.
The forms in my work are derivative of nightmares I had when I was a child. I practice using things that people tend to detest (junk mail, litter, waste, nightmares) and transforming them into things that people love. To me, making art is a meditative practice in alchemy, enantiodromia, positive spin, acceptance, balance, or a combination of related ideas.
If there is a negative or downward trajectory of motion inherent to a material, I focus my energy on changing that direction. For example, the work I've been doing with plastic bottles -- without intervention, discarded plastic bottles have basically 2 options: becoming landfill or getting recycled. In the past few years, I have intercepted approximately 50,000 bottles from the waste stream, turning them into art instead of allowing them to go into landfill, our oceans, or the environmentally costly recycling process.
Junk mail and excess food packaging are materials I enjoy working with as well. They share a similar fate with bottles. The activity of opening up the mail and finding a depressing mass of garbage/credit card applications is now a pleasant experience wherein I find a new batch of art supplies. The assertive positive language & costly printing used in junk mail and food packaging gives them a persuasive, positive, personal flavor, making them ideal fodder for my work.
My practice is largely about recognizing and embracing possibilities, revealing poetry and potential and encouraging others to do the same.
Other Projects & Collaborations
Director and Co-Founder | Lumenhouse, photo studio, artist in residence program, exhibition space and community/cultural event space.
Currently on exhibit: No One Dies, New work by Mariko Suzuki, curated by Mariko Tanaka. For more info see Lumenhouse
Director and Co-Founder | Project Vortex, an international coalition of artists, architects and designers dedicated to working with plastic debris in a global effort to reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans. See Project Vortex
