Eija Loponen-Stephenson

Liquid Prosthetics

This body of work was created during the Round Table Residency in Toronto, ON, 2019.

“Through sculpture, installation, and performance, Eija Loponen-Stephenson explores the various textures in the relationship of the body to objects and spaces, reconsidering the ergonomics of everyday items and utensils, as well as the often procedural and inhuman assemblages of architecture.In this project, a deconstructed cube of metal rods and deteriorating rice paper is shown alongside an undulating foam sculpture and the performance documentation of what can be described as a sort of “wearable waterbed.” The sculptures investigate different approaches to body suggestions, conceiving bodies that are abstract, angular, amorphous, and self-feeding. The material of the rice paper particularly acts as a skin that tears and biodegrades over time.The performance consists of wearing a plastic suit filled with water, creating a liquid prosthetic. When inside, this fusion of human and nonhuman creates the potential to exist and interact with space in unexpected ways. Expanding the sensitivity and flexibility of the body, the suit examines a both/and, neither/nor understanding of the body as delicately interconnected with its affects and intensities, as well as its surrounding environments.Denying firm objectification and mechanisms of control, this particular strategy of abjection moves backwards by incorporating rather than rejecting the materials and potentials of the non-human other into a more fluid and capable self. Fusing elements of the human and the inhuman allows for an exploration of material compatibility that portends a more positive and exploratory sense of disembodiment.Written by Angel Callander Round Table Residency facilitator 2019 ”