01 - Exhibition Statement

02 - Artist Statement

Unfathomable Accumulation addresses microplastics pollution, the buildup of tiny plastic particles five millimeters in diameter or less in the environment and speculates on the future effects of this phenomenon. The scale of this pollution is so widespread that it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine a future free from it, a prospect both disturbing and almost incomprehensible due to its sheer scope. Over the course of a series of intaglio prints, the accumulation of microplastics in the environment and bodies is explored, as well as how the boundary between microplastics and the environment will inevitably become eroded. Depicting microplastics such that they are visible and their interactions with other elements are clear is an attempt to reckon with this problem and the anxiety generated by its effects.

Mieke Uhryniuk-Smith uses drawing and print media to explore personal anxieties related to bodily harm and health, environmental damage, and uncertainty surrounding the future, using the uncanny and macabre to address and reckon with these anxieties. Drawing from the imagery and formal properties of scientific illustration, they often depict unseen and unrecognizable parts of the human body or environment alongside more familiar and recognizable subjects. They are interested in the relationship between elements that cannot be seen and the effects these have on a larger scale as well as the tension and strangeness of this relationship.