STRAIGHT TALK
with Lorrie Fredette
Lorrie Fredette is an installation artist concerned with the epidemics that have wrought
our civilizations and species throughout the ages. Working primarily in drawing and sculpture, Fredette’s work confronts the viewer with the forms of abstracted scientific data
while engaging the aesthetic eye and bodily space.
Implementation of Adaptation (2013). Exhibition location: Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY.
6’1” x 12’ x 24’, suspended 40” above the floor. Beeswax, tree resin, muslin,
brass, nylon line, steel, and wood. Photo credit: Fred Hatt.
By Megan Guerber
Contributor
MG: As an artist, what draws you to the theme of
infectious disease? Does fear, curiosity, or awe of these
biological phenomena play a role?
LF: Yes, fear, curiosity, and awe all draw me to
infectious disease, and keep me fascinated by it.
We regularly hear about infectious diseases that
either are or soon could be on our doorsteps
SciArt in America April 2014
because of our increased connectivity. A disease
that might have taken months or years to reach
us because of limitations in travel can now be
on a plane or a cruise ship, exposing unsuspecting passengers who then carry the disease to
all their various destinations. Now that people
don’t remain rooted in their communities, neither do diseases.
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