art | elyse graham

last month i went to the royal ontario museum with my father to see the mesopotamia exhibition. it was quite well done (curatorially there were a number of aspects i enjoyed - including unique videos, relaxed mood lighting and fun facts). after we viewed the special exhibition we wandered around the rest of the museum and happened upon the rock room (i don't know what it's actually called sorry). the room was full of geodes of all properties, shapes, colours and sizes. i feel like we spent forever in that space - though it was likely only thirty minutes. i was absolutely stunned by the beauty and uniqueness of the crystallizations and i left with a newfound obsession.

so needless to say i was thrilled to recently come across these 'forced' geodes by artist elyse graham. she captures the delight perfectly when she writes "geodes have been objects of wonderment for me since childhood. i was obsessed with the idea that i could go out into the landscape and pick up a rock that might just be filled with a magical surprise."

graham creates these geodes around the void created by her exhaled breath using latex, urethane, plaster and sometimes sand or powder. the result is as much a surprise to her as it is to all of us.