Lauren Chipeur

what on Earth is holding the loop up?

strange loop 2026

every layer of a single onion cast in elemental sulphur, reduction/single-fired porcelain with embedded soda ash (self-glazing with carbon trapping on surface), smoke-fired stoneware, charred onion skins, hand ground petroleum coke, bituminous coal and BBQ charcoal.

S (Syncrude Mildred Lake Facility III)

S (Syncrude Mildred Lake Facility IV)

S (farm near Carmel, Saskatchewan), S (Port of Vancouver IV), S (Port of Vancouver III), S (Syncrude Mildred Lake Facility I)

The images are printed on photo rag baryta which is a paper coated with barium sulphate and the frames are inlaid with elemental sulphur fertilizer.

vessels for C₃H₈, series, 2026

The works below are single-fired with a reduction atmosphere in a gas kiln using a self-glazing clay made from porcelain and soda ash (sodium carbonate) that creates a carbon trapping effect on the surface of the clay. The black works are stoneware with a post-firing smoke reduction to trap carbon in the pores of the clay.

Images: Brent Morley Smith

what on Earth is holding the loop up, investigates byproducts of bitumen upgrading, sulphur and carbon. Sulphur compounds are responsible for the tears that our eyes produce when cutting onions; the potency of the onion influenced by the levels of sulphur in the soil. Consuming this byproduct of bitumen upgrading via the onion collapses the space between industrial activities and the interior of the body.

This show includes photographs that depict contextless images of industrial sulphur sites: the port of Vancouver, a farm near Carmel, Saskatchewan and Syncrude’s Mildred Lake Facility north of Fort McMurray. The images are printed on photo rag baryta which is a paper coated with barium sulphate and the frames are inlaid with elemental sulphur fertilizer.

In the installation, strange loop, disintegrated ceramic forms with carbon trapping on the surface reference propane tanks, while 13 layers of a single onion cast in elemental sulphur sit on hand ground petroleum coke, BBQ charcoal and bituminous coal.

Image credit: Blaine Campbell