The Grotto

Curated by Avalon Mott

Abby Kettner, Danan Lake, Ramolen Laruan, and Ghislan Sutherland-Timm

February 10 – April 6, 2024

Essay by: Avalon Mott

Ramolen Laruan would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council.

Somewhere between here and there, near and far, north and south, east and west, nowhere and somewhere, The Grotto exists. It is elusive, relying entirely on soft architecture to gesture towards elements of life that feel familiar. A movement or form or sound or visual. The Grotto begs to engage tension, the feeling of the uncanny that reveals itself when the intersection of waking life and a dreamed world is held in paralysis. On view at Xpace Cultural Centre from February 9 – April 6 2024 this exhibition engages the works of four artists; Abby Kettner, Danan Lake, Ghisland Sutherland-Timm and Ramolen Laruan to provide a latticed network of anchor points that usher the viewer in their experience of the Grotto on display. Curated by Avalon Mott.

Curator Bio:
Avalon Mott (she/her) is a curator, lens based artist, and arts administrator originally from Vancouver BC, now calling Toronto/Tkaronto home. She was a Co-Founder of FIELD Contemporary (Vancouver) and is the current Director of Xpace Cultural Centre alongside being a collective member of The Plumb. She graduated from OCAD U with her MFA in Criticism + Curatorial Practice in 2023. Avalon’s curatorial practice is rooted in supporting emerging and under-represented artists. Her research explores the curatorial methodology of exhibitionary affect and how when applied, it can aid in creating moments to feel in an exhibition by encouraging relational experiences between the viewer and the works on display.

Image ID:
The image depicts white text of the artists name on a blurred background that features hues of dark greens. On the right side of the image is an abstract form that resembles a flash of light in white and light purple tints. The show title reads ‘The Grotto’ in dark green in the top right corner of the image.

All photo documentation by Em Moor.