Laura Nanni

I am a Toronto based theatre and visual artist working in the areas of performance, installation, directing and design.  Interested in combining disciplines, I mix the mediums of sculpture, video, photography, printmaking, textile design and live peformance.

Confronting the mundane, and poking fun at the cliché, my work seeks to question how we construct and experience daily life and common relationships.  I create situations and environments where routine activity is interrupted or under scrutiny--- to both tragic and comic effect.

I often situate objects in unconventional contexts, that provide ?bait? for viewers to question and an ?empty stage? for individuals to play upon. Activated when engaged, the work constantly evolves and is always subject to chance as viewers respond.    

When using myself as the subject, I become a specimen to be both interacted with and examined by the audience. My impulses and routines are exposed in order to encourage viewers to consider their own experiences.

As a graduate of the theatre and visual studies programs at the University of Toronto, I have exhibited works and participated in performances across Canada including group shows at Fifth Parallel Gallery (Regina), Koffler Gallery (Toronto), OCAD (Toronto), U of T (Toronto), and Mobilivre (Montreal). I have also worked in different capacities with Soulpepper Theatre, The Stratford Festival of Canada, SummerWorks, The Toronto Fringe Festival, The Gina Project, Wild Girl Productions, bluemouth inc., and am also co-artisitic director of One Man Tag Productions. My most recent endeavor is The Automatic Tourist Project, a series of site-specific installations, mailart and performance works.