I had the opportunity last week to attend the opening of 2gallery artist Noelle Hamlyn’s extraordinary solo installation at the Royal Ontario Museum. A remarkable achievement by a remarkable artist.
Visitors can immerse themselves in Noelle Hamlyn: Lifers, a ROM-original exhibition. Using the metaphor of the life jacket (“Lifers”), the exhibition examines the rampant overproduction by the textile and fashion industry, and our personal overconsumption and the resulting detrimental impact on the environment. Lifers showcases over 30 repurposed life jackets, which have been hand-tailored from reclaimed and discarded fashion.
Visitors feel submerged underwater due to the unique exhibition design, which presents the artworks as if floating throughout the space. Large-scale photographs by Geoff Coombs further enhancing the experience. An original soundscape by audio designer Miquelon Rodriguez and musician Callahan Connor includes the unsettling sounds of melting ice and glaciers, with voices explaining their experience of maritime tragedy.
“What do we do with fashion waste? What happens when garments are no longer wanted or have outgrown their use?”, asks artist Noelle Hamlyn. “Lifers explores hubris and privilege through a visual metaphor provoking thought, awareness, and action about the impact of personal fashion choices on water and climate.”
Make sure to visit the ROM and discover Noelle Hamlyn’s amazing work.
On now until February 2024. Congratulations Noelle!
