Exhibition
Ground is the bottom of anything
artch is pleased to present Nina Vroemen’s first solo exhibition, Ground is the bottom of anything, in collaboration with L’Écart art center from January 29 to March 23, 2025. This exhibition is part of Plein solo, an initiative led by artch aimed at presenting the first solo exhibitions of 6 emerging artists across Quebec.
This project is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture and Communications.
01. 29. 2025
03. 23. 2025
Écart – 167 Murdoch, av. Rouyn-Noranda, QC J9X 1E3
Ground is the bottom of anything takes as its starting point the notion of elementary loop, examining geological, historical, and personal narratives to trace the legacy of elements extracted from the ground and, ultimately, those that return to it. Toxicity and contamination are not immediately perceptible; these forms of environmental violence, which occur more slowly, are often invisible and acquitted by justice. These haunting issues require new ways of thinking to be noticed.
Can human imagination – and by extension art – be useful in contemplating alternative futures and other ways of being in the world?
In a multidisciplinary installation where anamorphic fountains herald an aquatic future, ice faces echo the myth of Narcissus, and ceramic gargoyles evoke uranium’s radioactive chain, reflections on ecological crisis and environmental violence emerge.
In recent years, Nina Vroemen’s research has focused on the toxicity of nuclear waste, grief, the permanent haunting of militarism, and the violence imposed on nature – both perceptible and imperceptible. The artist’s work interweaves politics and poetry, reflecting on the impact of violence from systems of power and domination on the environment.
Through performance, video, sculpture, and ceramics, Nina Vroemen explores contemporary ecological issues. Their work merges scientific approach with surrealist imagination to question our relationship with the environment. Their current research focuses particularly on the legacy of mining extraction and the impact of the atomic age. Based in Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal), the artist develops speculative works that reveal the dysfunctions of our systems. Their artistic practice is built at the intersection of scientific research and sensory exploration. Through meticulous observation of waste, toxicity, and rituals of risk, they create works that interrogate our relationship with ecology. From deep geology to circumpolar studies, their work unveils the complex entanglements between human and environment.
In the interstices between science and surrealism, they weave ecological narratives. Their works emerge from a deep immersion in matter – ceramics, video, performance – to reveal the hidden cycles of our world. From the earth’s core to the clouds, they explore territories where human imagination and natural forces meet.
Nina Vroemen
Nina Vroemen lives in Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal), on the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka and is a recent graduate with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Sculpture and Ceramics from Concordia University.