living cover
For the past decade, Leila Armstrong has been examining this nature-
culture divide and how we conceive of our relationship with nature. In her
work as a practising visual artist, both individually and with the artist duo
12 Point Buck, she has investigated the human concept of nature as being
culturally constructed. Currently working with Dr. Louise Barrett at the
University of Lethbridge in a new multi-disciplinary graduate studies program
called Cultural, Social and Political Thought, Leila is taking her research to
the next level.
“I really wanted to get seriously embedded in a project and dedicate some
time and thought to the topic, so I thought I’d pursue a Ph.D,” she laughs.
“Around 100 years ago, we saw nature as something that was
unpredictable and dangerous and our job was to go out there and to tame
it, map it and exploit it for its natural resources,” Leila explains. “Things
began to shift about 50 years ago, and now it’s seen as more of a virgin
retreat or virgin wilderness that needs our stewardship, but in both of those
cases, we’re positioned outside of nature, it’s seen as passive and something
that we act on.”
Her work aims to pull apart the assumption that humanit