
Nicole Nadeau
19.1 x 26.7 x 5.1 cm
“Penumbra” is a reflection on the dualities of modern existence. Created on the grounds of Alan Watts’ former studio, this diptych captures the tension between the human spirit and the tools meant to enhance communication, which instead often leave us more fragmented and alone.
At the core of the piece is the Trinity psilocybin, a strain named after the first detonation of a nuclear weapon—a striking parallel between expansion of consciousness and destructive force. The resin-cast forms are molded from discarded Apple packaging and Amazon boxes, remnants of a consumerist cycle that both sustains and confines us. Like the shadows in Socrates’ Allegory of the Cave, our digital avatars flicker—mere projections of self, trapped between what is real and what is just out of reach. “Penumbra” is a meditation on this liminal space, where identity blurs, and we are left searching for substance in our own silhouettes.