ASYLUM

SPAO is pleased to present Asylum, an exhibition featuring new work by Olivia Johnston and Neeko Paluzzi.

In this exhibition, Johnston and Paluzzi highlight the materials that get accumulated in the creation of an arts practice, and the emotional, physical, and conceptual weight that these objects hold. Props, novelty items, prototypes and paper ephemera are housed inside a cardboard shrine. Each box is a miniature stage, an assemblage of references, memories, and gestures that illustrate the labour and weight of building a single image. While the cardboard installation pays reference to obsolescence, protection and isolation, it also raises larger questions about trauma and mental illness. Where do we turn when our minds feel fragile? Where do we put all of the clutter? How do we construct spaces—physical or emotional—that allow us to process, to create, and to survive? The works on display honor SPAO as a space of solace and creativity, demonstrating how such sanctuaries enable transformation. The layers of this exhibition—both material and emotional—invite viewers to reflect on the delicate balance between containment and release, and the strength required to carry the weight of both.

Featuring the work of
Olivia Johnston
Neeko Paluzzi

Curated by:
Katie Lydiatt

Exhibition On View:
Wednesday, January 8 - Sunday, Febrary 16, 2025
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday - Sunday, 12PM - 5PM

Reception:
Friday, January 10, 5PM - 7PM
The SPAO Centre, 77 Pamilla St. 

Olivia Johnston

Olivia Johnston (b. 1991) is an artist and art historian living and working in Ottawa, Canada. In her practice, she investigates her own experiences of chronic illness and trauma, and examines the iconography of sacredness in contemporary life. Catholic aesthetics often serve as a visual framework in her practice in order to explore questions about images, gender, the body, the self, beauty, illness, and art history. Johnston’s practice includes lens-based imagery, site-specific installation, and sculpture; her award-winning work has been exhibited across Canada and abroad and it is in multiple private and public collections.

Johnston has received grant support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the City of Ottawa. She holds a Bachelor Honours Art History from Carleton University and a Photographic Arts and Production Diploma from the SPAO Centre. Johnston is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Ottawa.

Neeko Paluzzi

Neeko Paluzzi (he/him) is an artist based in the Outaouais region of Quebec. In his practice, he uses translation theories to create inter-textual installations. From music to literature, he is interested in translating other texts – both visual and non-visual – into his own photographic language, situating his own queer body at the centre of these visual translations.

Paluzzi holds a Masters of Fine Arts (2022) from the University of Ottawa and is a graduate of School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (2017). He was the recipient of the Karsh Continuum Photography Award from the City of Ottawa in 2021, had a feature exhibition at the Scotiabank CONTACT Festival in 2019, and was the winner of the 2018 Project X, Photography Grant from the Ottawa Arts Council. In addition, he has participated in artist residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts (2024), at DAIMON Centre (2023), and at l’Ecart (2022). Paluzzi teaches English at the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.