Elephant: Joshua Vettivelu and Alex v. Pouliot

This exhibition brings together works by Joshua Vettivelu and Alex v. Pouliot which explore how social forces shape our sense of self and our relationships to others. Through subtle architectural interventions and altered everyday objects, the works trace how experiences of desire, anxiety, love, damage, and repair accumulate in the spaces we inhabit.

 Vettivelu’s practice examines how power materializes, revealing how different spaces carry the pressures of class, desirability, and belonging.  Pouliot’s research brings poetic attention to everyday objects, using damage and repair as a negotiation between the violence of the damage and his ability to heal it.  His meticulous dedication to fragile materials creates an awareness of time, highlighting both the persistence of force and the possibility of mending.

 The title Elephant gestures toward what invisibly structures a room. Systems of value, such as class, masculinity, and desirability are often unspoken presences, shaping how we see ourselves and one another.  Within these spaces and their forces, people search for recognition, regulate, wound, and repair each other.