Aislinn Leggett
at Miguasha National Park (Nouvelle)
EXHIBITION
What you see will not be here tomorrow
Aislinn Leggett, Montreal, Québec | aislinnleggett.com
“In 2020, I was selected by Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie to take on their photographic mission of representing the Outaouais landscape. The project What you see will not be here tomorrow documents, through photography, my process of observing the landscape. Through spontaneous actions, interventions, I question my relationship with my surroundings, our global community and the future of our environment. The process involves creating ephemeral or temporary structures to articulate my inquiries towards our appropriation of the land, and our neglect to foresee the fragility of our natural resources.
“I grew up in Namur, a small village in the Outaouais, in the Petite Nation area. The landscapes of farm fields, lakes, rivers and forests are the ones of my youth, which have shaped me and carved the folds of my identity. These landscapes are the background of this work.
“How do you see nature? How do you see yourself in nature? What is your role in our growing global community? These are questions I asked myself while creating this series. These thoughts only led to more desperate ones, as my interventions became reflections on the ways in which we use or misuse, adapt to or alter, the landscapes we live in.
“I am grateful to have re-experienced these landscapes that have, for the most part, been left untouched.” – Aislinn Leggett
Exhibition at Rencontres
What you see will not be here tomorrow
Aislinn Leggett is a Montreal-based visual artist. She grew up on a farm in Namur, Québec, where her family history is deeply rooted in the area. Her work is inspired by the stories and origins of her ancestors, which can be traced from a line of farmers, wilderness guides, forestry workers, caretakers, quilters and seamstresses.
Working with photography, installation and video, Aislinn delves into the notions of memory, femininity and archives. With the use of found objects, photographic archives, fibers and food, she weaves a myriad of ways one remembers. Collecting, unraveling, wrapping, appropriating, preserving, or altering have set a precedent for how she creates.
Aislinn received her bachelor’s in photography at Concordia University and has recently been accepted at Concordia for an MFA in Art Education on a Merit Scholarship. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Toronto Pearson International Airport, the Noorderlicht Photofestival and the Pingyao International Photography Festival.