My name is Arabel Lebrusan and I am a visual artist and creative campaigner.
My artistic practice is concerned with the death of humans and the more-than-humans; the bodies falling through the cracks of the system. I’m affected by the loss of human corps: kids in wars, females to gender violence, adolescents to knife crime, diamond miners to greed… And the loss of ecosystems and bodies of water, too. I find meaning in transforming everyday materials into physical metaphors. From wearable healing rings created from police-confiscated knives to an iron plaque depicting the haunting profile of a woman and her unborn foetus, forged from the same iron ore that killed them both in a mining disaster, my work uses matter that matters to amplify the stories that desperately need to be told.
Growing up, I was deeply connected to my maternal ancestors, women who transformed materials through alchemical processes and rituals – cooking oil into soap and blood into food. These traditions and crafts left a profound impact on me. Now, I often think through objects and processes. I employ sculpture and large site-specific installations, as well as embroidery, goldsmithing and silversmithing, drawing, photography, video, and performance to tell those stories. I often take advantage of domestic objects loaded with significance and meaning, accumulated over years of everyday use. These simple materials scale my ideas down to a relatable scale, creating an intimate dialogue that channels large social, economic and political agency through the lens of familiarity and tactility. I believe we can touch a thought and experience a physical response to an idea.
I feel the superpower of craft is its ability to engage audiences and make complex concepts accessible. My work often draws on tension and trauma, inviting audiences to grieve with different degrees of engagement. Sometimes, it’s a simple crafted object or installation that fosters engagement. Other times, this space for individual and collective narratives is created by social engagement processes that enable me to create collaboratively with others.
Creating art helps me cope with the injustices of this cruel world we live in; to process humanity’s tragic histories of abuse, exploitation, and inequality. I hope it will also help others.
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