Stephanie Florence is a neurodiverse artist and curator originally from amiskwacîwâskahikan, colonially known as Edmonton, Alberta. Their artwork is primarily based in collage and collaboration, borrowing from sculptural objects, installations, performative gestures, explorative painting, and photographic means. Currently, Florence is conducting exploratory research on interspecies citizenship, and how living bodies become a commodity for colonial-capitalist culture during their MFA at the University of Waterloo. Specifically, they are producing collaborative artwork with the flora, fauna, micro-organisms, and humans in the colonized-city landscape, with an intent to understand and communicate with beings that have been devalued by consumer-capitalist culture and extraction economies.
They are a graduate of the University of Lethbridge with a BFA in Art Studio and a Diploma in Fine Art from MacEwan University. Florence is grateful for the support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund, and Pat the Dog in researching and producing artworks. In 2021, they curated the SkirtsAfire Festival, completed a residency at the Yorath House Studio, and exhibited The Human Wheel at the Lowlands Project Space, while launching their collaborative book titled COVID COLLECTIONS. This anthology was funded by the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton, and interweaves collections of experiences, interviews, art, and poetry into a book from an inclusive array of Edmontonians during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a non-binary artist, Florence acknowledges the use of pronouns such as they, them, she, her, he, and him.
Image 1: Stephanie Florence, ‘Dandehead: my roots are showing (colonial roots)’, 2022. Taraxacum officinale in a plantable helmet construct, photo-credit to Stephanie Florence and Ashley Guenette.
Image 2: Stephanie Florence, ‘Is it Exponential Growth or Rapid Decay?’, 2022. Pink Oyster mushroom on my non-binary body, photo-credit to Stephanie Florence and Eric Almberg.
Image 3: Safaa Alnabelseya, Stephanie Florence, Hania Shehab, and Parastoo Varshosaz, ‘Nest(ling) Brick’, 2022. Digitally printed stoneware ceramic clay bricks from a baked Rhino model, photo-credit to Stephanie Florence.
Image 4: Stephanie Florence, ‘The Human Wheel’, 2021. Plywood, lumber, steel, bolts, and rubber wheels, Technicians: Alicia Proudfoot and Eric Almberg, photo-credit to Steven Teeuwsen, and Stephanie Florence.
