JUSTIN SOMJEN: Spines

JUSTIN SOMJEN
Spines

Opening reception: Thurs, Mar 6, 2025, 6-8PM
Exhibition: Mar 6 – Mar 30, 2025

Mezzanine space

Wil Aballe
1375 Railspur Alley, Vancouver, BC

Exhibition PDF

For inquiries please contact Wil Aballe, wil@waapart.com

SPINES

Spines are defensive structures found in both plants and animals characterized by sharp, pointed projections. In plants, spines are typically modified leaves or parts of the vascular tissue from the stem. These modifications result in hard, discoloured spikes that extend outward, such as those seen on cacti. In vertebrate animals, spines are usually modified hairs composed of hard keratin. In aquatic creatures like fish and underwater invertebrates, such as sea urchins, spines may contain venom, which can be harmful or even lethal to predators.

In another context, the spine is a key component of the vertebrate central nervous system. In humans, it evolved to support an upright posture, a feat no other animal has achieved to the same extent. This unique adaptation has enabled humans to stand and move upright more than any other mammalian species, allowing our gaze to evolve from the ground to the sky. The spine, which supports our vertical posture, can be seen as a biomimetic spike reaching upward like a plant striving toward the sun.

The exhibition Spines investigates the parallels between architectural spikes and analogous defensive structures found in the natural world. Utilizing finials—decorative spikes commonly found on fences, rooftops, and staircases—as a focal point, Somjen highlights the shared formal characteristics between these human-made constructs and evolutionary adaptations observed in flora and fauna. His conviction that architectural spikes resonate with biological evolution informs his artistic motivation, positioning these elements as relics that bridge natural history, biology, and the innate human desire for ascendance and protection.

Spines consists of four decorative frames, each adorned with wooden finials and a diverse array of motifs that serve a tripartite function: enhancing the ornamental quality of the sculptures, engaging with tropes of natural history and medieval symbolism, and evoking skeletal or calcified representations of both plant and animal anatomy. Within this work, significant motifs such as dogs, orchids, poisonous plants, vertebrae, biomimetic flora, and birds emerge, often depicted in defensive postures. The work creates frames within frames, forming a clear focal point or centrepiece reminiscent of cameo carvings. These centrepieces include a disembodied hand feeding blood to a Venus flytrap, two dogs fighting, a lizard in a defensive pose, and the scales and prickles of the pinecone of Methuselah—the bristlecone pine tree, the longest-living organism on the planet.

This mix of biological miscellany reimagines traditional motifs and decorative moldings, departing from established patterns of repetition and order. Instead, Somjen’s chaotic and perplexing arrangements allude to disorder, rejecting the romanticized notion of nature as idyllic. While elaborate, the handcrafted sculptures possess a “blocky” quality, appearing neither old nor new, serving as protective emblems of our present moment, reminiscent of coats of arms or shields.

– Text by Justin Somjen

Justin Somjen is a Canadian artist currently residing in Vancouver on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. He has exhibited in Canada, the United States, and Belgium and holds a BFA in Photography from Toronto Metropolitan University and an MFA in Sculpture from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. His artistic practice explores the intricate relationship between decoration and protection. His current work is rooted in historical research and biological studies, examining the symbiotic connections among humans, plants, and animals. Somjen creates relief sculptures reminiscent of architectural forms, which, for him, symbolize human protection. His decorative relief sculptures draw inspiration from a diverse range of architectural styles, including Art Nouveau, Baroque, Gothic, and Classical. Through his work, he suggests that ornaments function as cultural structures that shape meaning while also investigating how these meanings shift, evolve, and are reinterpreted over time.