Volume 1
Eve Tagny
Alexis Auréoline
Liljana Mead Martin
Emily Chudnovsky
Steven Cottingham
Justin Apperley
The inaugural BIOMASS exhibition, Volume 1: The lifecycle of an average star, showcases the multifaceted practices of artists Eve Tagny, Alexis Auréoline, Liljana Mead Martin, Emily Chudnovsky, Steven Cottingham, and Justin Apperley. Each artist's work reflects a deep engagement with their subjects and materials, drawing from lived experience to infuse their work with the search for magic and a situated alchemy.
This array of artworks and practices transition fluidly between lived research, documentation, dance, digital realism, and new materialism, illustrating the opportunity for diverse methodologies and inspirations that drive contemporary artistic labor. In dialogue with these artists, a system unfolds for the reader. Creative process is a strange type of magic, one that responds to everything you offer to it, through an interplay of research, practice, and material transformation that characterizes the lifecycle of art-making. Here artists spill the tea on the intricate and often unseen labor that fuels the artistic process, offering glimpses into the lives of contemporary working artists.
“Magic is premised on the belief that the world is animated, unpredictable, and that there is a force in all things.” - Silvia Federici
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a0bb0a3f4c5faa6c11ddb37499130c98e42d8fa85c5d1b28098d52e8df79fc3e/life-cycle-of-an-average-star-planetary-nebula.jpg)
Image: Lifecycle of an average star
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/J.Kastner
Four planetary nebulae are shown here from the first systematic survey of dying stars in the solar neighborhood using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. X-ray emission from Chandra is colored purple and optical emission from the Hubble Space Telescope is colored red, green and blue. The nebulae are named NGC 6543, also known as the Cat's Eye, NGC 7662, NGC 7009 and NGC 6826.
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/J.Kastner
Four planetary nebulae are shown here from the first systematic survey of dying stars in the solar neighborhood using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. X-ray emission from Chandra is colored purple and optical emission from the Hubble Space Telescope is colored red, green and blue. The nebulae are named NGC 6543, also known as the Cat's Eye, NGC 7662, NGC 7009 and NGC 6826.