Artist Statement

Cucolorus domesticus is a video installation. In a darkened room, a potted philodendron sits upon the window sill. Beyond the plant, a bright sky blue background appears to cast rays upon the floor of the gallery space, creating a shadow-silhouette of the philodendron. The shadow seems to be static at first, but as the viewer spends time in the space, they become aware of minute movements in the plant’s shadow. Tendrils curl, and uncurl, as though growing before our eyes. Like the minute-hand of a clock, the movements are subtle. Viewers often look between the shadow and the plant upon the window sill, to catch the movement in both dimensions. The shadow eventually grows leaves and stems that briefly form an A-frame house, before furling up to a shadow that matches the physical plant.

• Jenn E. Norton is an artist using time-based media to create immersive, experiential installations, using stereoscopic, interactive video, animation, augmented reality, sound, and kinetic sculpture. Often using video as a starting point within her process, her imaginative compositions use a combination of pre-cinema and contemporary display technologies, while exploring the blurring boundaries of virtual and physical realms. Norton’s recent animations and augmented reality apps draw upon her interest in the ways in which information is exchanged between humans, technology, and as seen in her most recent solo exhibition in Montreal (ELLEPHANT|Art), plants. Current areas of research within Norton’s practice explores the use of metaphor in physics as both a conceptual genesis, communicative device, poetic practice, and demonstrative application of technological and natural phenomena. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Visual Arts at York University, Toronto, Canada, an adjunct lecturer and the post-production technician in Film & Media Studies at Queen’s University, Canada. jennenorton.com