Faculty of Design

Graphic Design

Laura De Micheli

Femicide in Canada (2010–2018)

In this project, I visualized data on femicide in Canada between 2010 and 2018 through three dimensional forms. I worked with acrylic to create pools measured in milliliters, each one corresponding to the number of deaths per month. I allowed the material to act on its own, letting it spread and settle naturally, forming pools of different sizes and shapes.These forms reference pools of blood and were placed underneath used women’s shoes that I collected. The shoes were painted white, representing the presence of those who are no longer here. Each sole was marked with a specific year, and when interacting with the piece by looking underneath, it revealed the number of deaths that occurred in that year.The work invites a more physical and emotional engagement with data, moving away from abstract numbers and into something that can be seen, felt, and confronted. It was exhibited at the Data Visualization Expo, where it engaged audiences in a different way of understanding and experiencing information.

“My intention with this work was to allow data to take a more emotional form, bringing a sense of shock through the use of colour and texture. By referencing blood in contrast with the muted white of the shoes, I wanted the audience to move beyond reading data as a graph or statistic, and instead begin to process it as something lived, where each death extends far beyond a number.”