Systems of Power | Artist Elaine Cameron-Weir | Louisiana Channel

“Art can infiltrate. It can change people's minds.”

We have visited up-and-coming artist Elaine Cameron-Weir in New York, who has an immense love for transforming materials.

“My love of observation brought about this love of material. I am fascinated with the real world more than the depiction of it. And then the in-between that sculpture can be. It exists materially in front of us.”

Elaine Cameron-Weir’s work is informed by the array of systems and structures humans have created to deal with the unknown – scientific inquiry, religion, modes of governance, or creative practices. Her sculptures incorporate part-objects repurposed from their scientific, medical, military, or faith-giving functions into reliquaries or representations of larger systems of belief and power.

"Why am I drawn to materials and objects from industries like the military, medicine, or religion? The short answer is that there are systems of power. They are systems that humans use to create meaning, and art is one of those systems of power.”

“I think about the function of art a lot. Like what it does, what's the purpose, and it has a purpose. I believe that you can model something beyond what you have in front of you.”

Her installations combine found fragments with definitively handmade elements, using techniques as varied as vitreous enameling, glass casting, metalworking, and leather tooling. Together, these arrangements are often suspended from the ceiling, seemingly levitating from the ground, yet are simultaneously held in tension by gravity and an architectural framework of pulleys and cables. Materials can also be ephemeral, incorporating heat, light, and scent, suggesting transformations of solid matter into dust or diffusion into the atmosphere.

Cameron-Weir’s sculptures often form uncanny mirror images through symmetrical details that emphasize the dualistic nature of any narrative or narrator. Although her practice resists straightforward characterization or iconographic interpretation, Cameron-Weir’s works offer the possibility of passage through a portal or beyond a threshold, further facilitating the transition from one state to the next.

“I want to show or offer my thinking for someone else's consideration. Not to adopt, but just a message has been sent.”

Elaine Cameron-Weir was born in 1985 in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. She lives and works in New York. Past solo exhibitions at institutions include Dressing for Windows (Exploded View), SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, USA (2022); STAR CLUB REDEMPTION BOOTH, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, USA (2021); exhibit from a dripping personal collection, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany (2018); Outlooks, Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, USA (2018) and viscera has questions about itself, New Museum, New York, USA (2017). Her work has featured in major group exhibitions including The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani at the 59th Venice Biennale, Italy (2022); New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century, BAMPFA, Berkeley, USA (2021); Present Tense, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA (2019), as well as the Belgrade Biennale, Serbia (2021); the Montreal Biennial, Canada (2017) and the Fellbach Triennial of Small-Scale Sculpture, Germany (2016).

Elaine Cameron-Weir was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner in March 2024. The recording took place in her studio in Brooklyn, New York, and in her show A WAY OF LIFE at Lisson Gallery, New York.

Camera: Sean Hanley
Edited by: Signe Boe Pedersen
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2024

Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet and C.L. Davids Fond og Samling.

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[nansenscat]

Beautiful process. I especially like your feelings about respecting the object and material, and your ideas about matter and material vs form. Your work is wonderful. 💕

[cpi]

brilliant, I love this. Hadn't seen before

[olivierbolton]

art commemorates, a scent of feelings...thank you.

[Iggy_Garcia_]

Apart from the astonishing artwork I absolutely love the sound of her voice.

[georthof]

the strength of small remmants to produce deep tremors, beautiful!

[thecrossinmyeyes]

I wish the mainstream would give way to these type of media.
Violence, sex and mayhem aren't the only things going on in the world

[aaronkirkland]

Art is just thought materialized. If you don't express yourself you're just art internalized.

[selmag]

some people will make up anything to "criticise" a woman in order to kidnap the conversation and distract from the brilliance of her work. so "her voice", huh?! women's voices must be high and melodic, anything else is "not authentic"?! this misogyny...is dusty, is boring, is never gonna hit an enlightened feminist. since even the toughest woman haters have understood that discussing a woman's appearance is inappropiate, same people now think that at least "the way she talks" should be up for discussion. it's not.

[newjawn]

It's how American Millennials talk to add authority to their voice; Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian are two typically linked with the beginnings of the trend: "Vocal fry is the lowest register (tone) of your voice characterized by its deep, creaky, breathy sound. When you speak, your vocal cords naturally close to create vibrations as air passes between them. It is usually the result of a learned social habit. It's particularly used by young women and seen as a way to support their authority by accessing an unnaturally deeper pitch of voice than they would normally use. Whether this works or not seems to depend on who is listening. Those under 30 apparently do find vocal fry adds authority to what is being said." It's like fingernails on a chalk board. It is unlistenable.

[authoritease]

Funny about systems of power, your "intense consideration for the thing that you're doing" + consideration of the viewer.... You and an assistant (?) were so rude to me on our Troutman studio loading dock a while back. Try having more respect for other artist neighbors in the community. Thanks

[paulburns]

purcturch'lovevein qridal'qail qettin'qell::tone'too one'bone left'at baqq'u'tallity

[paulkaiser]

As someone who is deeply immersed both personally and professionally in systems of power I was really interested in what she has to say. Ironically the vocal fry and its implied pretense, illustrates that she would be a victim of such power. Systems of power are subversive and deceptive - in my experience - they are soft and hidden - threatening whispers. Like war, systems of power can be understood when both wielded or firmly under its heel. Her art runs dangerously close (too close really) to the cliched tugs on the usual tropes: a thought experiment rather than reporting back from the other side telling showing us what the hell is going on.

[earinsound]

systems of power. like joining the commercial art world. 😂

[franksliwa]

All so cerebral 🙄 effecting space.. it’s on.. personally I find nothing inspiring, interesting, or original about this stuff you claim is Art..

[aeastman]

maybe you are watching too many horror movies