The end is where Laetitia Hussain starts. She first encounters the objects used in her work at the end of their lives. They are cast-offs: obsolete, finished, discarded, and forgotten. Rather than completely reassigning their purpose, transforming things entirely in the artistic process, Hussain underscores the sorry fate of her found objects. A lifeless tree trunk uses manual tools as prosthetic roots, reaching into an imaginary terra firma. Its canopy of leaves just a memory, it attempts to harvest sunlight and air with scythes. The theme of amputation plays throughout in her work, stressing the notion of natural loss extending well beyond the merely environmental. Clear Cut Forest connects the destruction of nature and the corporeal. Gilding by means of an inferior process unifies the installation, communicating an at once sincere and self-reproachful attempt to preserve a monument forever. Hussain questions how we assign value to others, our environment and experiences. — PATRICK TERENCHIN | July 2009 AURUM :: A new installation by Laetitia Hussain :: Terenchin Fine Art :: Summer 2009 :: Catskill :: LAETI.ORG