Ilana Halperin

Born in New York, lives in Scotland.

Artist

Artist in residence from 14 June to 18 July 2024

Ilana Halperin’s work explores the relationship between geology and daily life. She combines fieldwork in diverse locations – on volcanoes in Hawaii, caves in France, geothermal springs in Japan, and in museums, archives and laboratories, with an active studio-based practice. Her work has featured in solo exhibitions worldwide, alongside permanent commissions, performative lectures and numerous group exhibitions. An in-depth volume on her work entitled Felt Events was published by Strange Attractor Press in 2022. Ilana shares her birthday with the Eldfell volcano in Iceland.

In relation to her residency with Villa Strauli Ilana describes - not long ago, I went on a virtual field trip to Mars with a scientist who is looking for signs of life there. As we travelled closer to the surface, I was startled by how emotional I became – my eyes welled with tears as we saw vast alluvial plains; ripple marks recording flowing water; hexagonal mud cracks, and Olympus Mons the largest volcano in the Solar System because on Mars there are no plate tectonics. We talked about iron – that what made Mars the colour of wet plaster and raw salmon was the same iron that is in our blood. I thought of my father, who loved Carl Sagan, that we are made of star stuff composed of minerals formed in the interiors of collapsing stars. So, how can we make a distinction between what is us and what is Earth. During my time in residence, I will focus on recent collaborative field work with Dr. Claire Cousins and Dr. Catriona McAra in ‘Earth analog sites’ for the red planet, exploring connections between planetary geology, microbiological formations, and the delicate line between what is us and what is Earth. The working title for this project is An Art History of Mars.

In collaboration with Patricia Fleming Gallery, Glasgow.